Her Brother's Keeper
by amaliesofie
Summary: Strange things are happening in Beacon Hills and Ella Stilinski knows her little brother knows... something. And while Stiles has been working hard to keep her out of the supernatural world, things don't always go the way you planned. "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." [starts from episode 2x11] [eventual parrishxoc]
1. We few, we happy few

**I told myself I wouldn't do it, yet here I am; starting a new story. The inspiration for this came from a Teen Wolf imagine on Tumblr, which said "imagine being Stiles' sister" and I was like "okay" and here we are. Hope you'll like it.**

 **I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins_

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 _ **Part One - Hell is empty**_

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 _"_ _From this day to the ending of the world,  
_ _But we in it shall be remembered,-  
_ _We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;  
_ _For he to-day that sheds his blood with me  
_ _Shall be my brother"_

William Shakespeare, _Henry V_

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Elżbieta 'Ella' Stilinski remained in her car for a moment longer after having turned off the engine and watched the building that stood in front of her.

It had been almost four years since she last had stepped a foot on these grounds. Thank baby Jesus that high school was over.

Not that those four years had been very hard on her – and university was definitely doing its own to run her down – but the memory of her teenage-self always made her cringe. She had giggled far too much and been way too boy-crazy.

Well, some might still call her boy-crazy considering the boyfriends she had gone through the later years. She knew, in any case, that her brother wouldn't hesitate to do so. But now, Ella thought, she had definitely found someone she could fall in love with.

 _Or maybe. A definitely maybe._

Rapid knocks on her window made her jump out of her own little world and a bright smile spread on her peach colored lips as she saw her father standing outside, grinning back at her.

He quickly stepped back, when Ella reached for the door and caught his daughter with a small groan, when she threw herself into his arms.

"Dad!" Ella exclaimed as she attempted to hug the life out of the sheriff and he laughed as he squeezed back.

"Hi, sweetheart." her father greeted and stepped back to properly look at her. Her dark soft hair fell in waves over her shoulders and it had grown visibly longer since he had last seen her.

Ella's hazel eyes shone with joy and a slight blush grazed her high cheekbones. She looked healthy he reported happily to himself and pulled her in for another hug.

"How was the drive here?" he asked when he pulled away and noticed how she lightly shook her legs to loosen the joints, smoothing her hands over her jeans-clad thighs at the same time.

It had only taken her about four hours to get from San Francisco to Beacon Hills. But prior days of studying had already made her feel like she soon would become chronically hunched over and the hours spent in her old SEAT Ibiza had not helped at all.

"It was fine. Not looking forward to going back, but it's worth it to see Stiles' dumb face, when he finds out I'm here." Ella told as she reached for her leather jacket inside the car and turned around in time to see her father shake his head at her.

She pulled the jacket over her maroon crop top; the color chosen specifically for this day. She secretly hoped that her color coordination would embarrass Stiles as it matched the color of the Beacon Hills Lacrosse Team's shirts.

Ella loved her little brother more than anything in the world, but she also loved when she had an opportunity to one up him. Especially since it was rarely done. He was like a freaking fly on the wall. He saw everything, heard everything, noticed everything.

"You haven't told him anything, have you?" she questioned her father with narrowed eyes and he shook his head once more. "Good. So where is he?"

"In the locker rooms, getting ready for the game." the sheriff informed her as she locked her car and they moved towards the building that had held her imprisoned for four year.

Okay, so maybe she was over-dramatizing, but she wasn't an English major for nothing. Shakespeare was her bitch.

"I can't believe he's still on the team."

Not that Ella thought him so bad that he should be kicked off, but at this point she wasn't sure why he still bothered. He more or less hated it.

Of course, his best friend, Scott, was on the team, so her brother stayed put as well. He would probably walk through fire for Scott McCall.

"You know he would only quit if Scott did. And now that he's co-captain I don't see that happening." her father replied and held the door open for her, but Ella had paused in shock.

"Scott is co-captain? Scott _McCall_? _Our_ Scott? When the hell did that happen?" Ella asked in disbelieve, making wide gestures with her hands.

Not that she didn't believe in Scott, but as far as she knew he wasn't much better at lacrosse than her brother. He tried harder, yes, but he was also asthmatic and couldn't run very far without having an attack.

"Beats me. Suddenly his asthma was gone and he was one of the best players on the team."

"Well, that doesn't sound strange at all." Ella said with her thick eyebrows gathered in thought, but she couldn't think of any reasonable explanation for the sudden improvement of his health and lacrosse skills.

Maybe it was luck or maybe he had trained the asthma away. She had read about people doing that. And she was absolutely certain Scott would never touch performance enhancing drugs. He probably hardly knew such things existed.

"I'll go find us some seats outside and you can _try_ to surprise your brother." her father then told her as they reached the hall that lead to the locker rooms.

Ella grinned as her father shook his head once more and disappeared around a corner. She hadn't seen her family since the Christmas break over three months ago, so it was good to be home and with them once more. Even just for a couple of days.

Noise and the stench of sweat reached her as she neared the locker room and she paused outside the room for a moment, bending around the doorway to make sure that Stiles had his back turned on her.

It wasn't difficult to recognize him with his buzz cut and the number '24' printed in a large font on the back of his lacrosse shirt.

She figured that none of the boys were in the midst of changing considering the door was open.

Ella couldn't keep a wide smile from her lips as she stepped inside the room and silently closed in on her brother, who was talking to Scott.

Several of the boys caught sight of her as she nearly bumped into them and looked as if they were about to speak up about her presence, but her glare kept them silent.

Her gaze met Scott's as she came to stand behind her brother, but he barely showed any recognition that she was there and Ella winked at him.

She was a little stunned over his physical transformation and he had certainly grown since she had seen him a little over three months ago.

He still looked like his adorable self, though, with a dark mop of hair on his head and his crooked jaw. But he seemed to have grown into himself somehow and Ella had to admit that he looked good.

 _In a completely non-creepy 'you look nice' kind of way_ , she noted to herself. He was like her little brother, after all.

"Hey, sis." Stiles spoke with a mischievous grin as he turned around to face her, interrupting her thoughts and preventing Ella from putting her hands over his eyes.

"How the fu-" Ella exclaimed with her arms lifted in defeat, but didn't get to finish as her brother pulled her into a hug that squeezed the air out of her.

It only took her a couple of seconds to return the hug and she laughed as he almost managed to lift her off her feet. He was about five inches taller than her, but still a little too scrawny to carry her weight.

Stiles' cognac brown eyes were warm and filled with mirth as he pulled back and stared down at her. But there was also something off about him. Like how he had looked worried for a brief moment at the sight of her before hiding it behind a smile.

"How did you know?" Ella questioned with her eyes narrowed at him, unable to keep an exasperated smile off her own lips. Just because he was annoying, it didn't mean she hadn't missed him.

"Dad started cleaning the house, including your room, last night, everyone standing behind me became suspiciously silent, Scott's face when he saw you, and I could smell your perfume as soon as you got close enough. Plus it's my birthday and you've never missed it before." Stiles listed with a smug look in his eyes and counted the signs with his long fingers.

"Fine, Sherlock Holmes. You win. You couldn't just let me surprise you?" Ella sighed and rolled her eyes at him before sharing a look with Scott over Stiles' shoulder.

She was, as always, impressed by his ability to be around her brother 24/7 and not wanting to punch him at least every once in a while. Stiles' arm would usually be numb from her punching him every time they spent a considerable amount of time together.

"Sure. If you would actually try."

"You're incorrigible."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'awesome'." Stiles replied cheekily and Ella rolled her eyes at him, pulling her brother into another hug.

She muttered a "happy birthday" into his ear and then pushed him away to greet Scott, who was watching them silently.

The teenager shot her a smile as he bend down to hug her and Ella studied him intently as she pulled back, noticing the same worried look in his dark eyes that she had seen in Stiles'. She didn't know the source of his concern, but squeezed his arm in comfort anyway.

"You've been working out." Ella remarked with a lifted eyebrow and heard Stiles groan behind her in what sounded like disgust. "Oh, relax. I'm not hitting on him. Scott is like my little brother, even though it kinda looks like he actually ate the old Scott."

"Yeah." Scott laughed nervously and glanced at Stiles, who was stood behind her. "Puberty, I guess."

"I heard you made co-captain. Congrats."

"Thanks."

"How is your mom?" Ella then asked and noticed how he started shifting on his feet.

 _Do they spend so much time together that Stiles' ADHD is rubbing off on him?_

"Good. She's good." Scott told with a wavering smile and then stiffened when something behind Ella caught his attention. "Uhm… I'm just gonna put on my shoes."

Ella watched him go with a frown and then turned back to look her brother, who suddenly looked just as distracted as his best friend had.

Stiles didn't seem to notice her staring as he took a few deep breaths and Ella became afraid that he was about to have a minor panic attack. He had been prone to those ever since their mother died and it was equally frightening every time.

"Stiles." she spoke in a soft voice and her brother immediately turned his watchful eyes to her. "Are you okay?"

She thought that maybe it was last week's events that were getting to them all. She had read online about the hostage situation at the sheriff's department, freaked out and almost left in the middle of class to go home.

Her father, however, had convinced her to wait a week for Stiles' birthday and she had unwillingly done so.

So many crazy things seemed to be happening in Beacon Hills and Ella didn't like at all how her father and brother somehow managed to get caught up in all of it.

Like the incident at the school, where some psycho had trapped Stiles and his friends late at night.

Or the fact that the arsonist, who had torched the Hale house and killed most of the family, turned out to be Kate Argent, the aunt of Stiles and Scott's new friend, Allison.

And latest, the tragedy at the sheriff's department that had claimed the life of some of her father's colleagues.

Her father, of course, was the sheriff and was bound to be in the middle of it. And her brother had always been too curious for his own good. But now her heart was always beating a bit faster every time she checked the news from Beacon Hills.

And she had had a little too many restless nights with strange and sometimes horrifying dreams about strange creatures, ripping of throats and eyes glowing in the dark.

"Yeah. Just nervous about the game." Stiles lied as he rubbed his hand over his hair, but Ella decided not to push him.

Her brother was good at lying – a little too good at times – but she had always managed to see through it. _Almost_ always managed.

"Why? Don't you just sit on the bench?" Ella teased with a light nudge at his shoulder.

"Thanks for reminding me." Stiles replied in a sarcastic tone that made him sound much more like himself and Ella smiled in relief.

"You're welcome. So are we going out or ordering in tonight?" she asked with her eyes trained on Stiles' hands as they fidgeted with the net on his lacrosse stick.

He looked confused by her question and Ella frowned again. Her brother did have trouble concentrating, but it usually wasn't this bad.

"Haven't decided yet. Probably in." he said as he caught on and then turned his head to look at Melissa McCall, who had just entered; looking both slightly uncomfortable and out of place between the teenage boys.

"Melissa!" Ella called out and relief crossed the woman's features as she found someone she knew.

"Your father said that you were coming today." the nurse said with a smile and gently squeezed Ella's hand in greeting. "How are-"

She didn't get to finish her question as a new and loud voice suddenly filled the room. Ella turned to see Coach Finstock stood at the doorway to his office with a microphone, belonging to a megaphone in his one hand, which he spoke into.

She had never met the man, but Stiles had complained enough about him to make him easily recognizable.

Mostly because he for some reason was dressed in a leather jacket that looked like something from Top Gun and his speech sounded vaguely familiar.

"Good morning. In less than an hour aircraft from here will be joining others from around the world and you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind." the coach spoke passionately and Ella shared a startled look with Melissa.

"What?"

"Mankind… that word should have a new meaning for all of us today." Finstock continued before pausing as if he was actually thinking about that 'new meaning'.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Melissa asked Stiles after tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention and Ella waited impatiently for an explanation as well.

"He does this every year." Stiles explained with a sigh and Ella bit into her plump lower lip in an attempt not to laugh, when she suddenly remembered where she had heard the speech before.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." her brother confirmed and his team mates cheered loudly at Finstock's words.

"Wait, is that…?" Melissa questioned when she recognized the wording as well and Stiles let out another sigh.

"Yeah... It's the speech from Independence Day. It's his favorite movie."

Melissa made an agreeing sound at Stiles' words and seemed to fight off a laugh as well.

"He should have gone with the Saint Crispin's Day Speech instead. 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers' sounds much more dramatic." Ella noted in a low voice and now it was Stiles' turn to hide a smile.

"I don't think Coach knows a lot of Shakespeare. 'To be or not to be' probably covers it." Stiles commented dryly and Ella's giggle was drowned by cheers as Finstock finished his speech.

"Well spoken, Coach." an elderly man then said as he appeared behind Finstock with an amused smile on his lips. "I might have chosen something with a little more historical value, but there is no denying your passion."

Ella's amusement vanished as she noticed how Stiles' body stiffened while Melissa inhaled sharply and took a step back. Something about this man had them both on edge.

He didn't look particularly threatening to her considering he was probably in his late sixties and there was a humorous gleam in his eyes.

 _But a serpent hiding underneath an innocent flower rarely shows its ugly head._

Ella's eyes found Scott by one of the benches and the shock over the old man's appearance was clear on his face.

"And while I haven't been here long there is no denying my pride in having a winning team for this school. I know you'll all be brilliant tonight even with only one co-captain leading you." the man continued with what could almost be considered a smug smile.

Scott looked just as surprised as Ella felt, when he announced that Scott would sit out the game with a look at the boy.

She quickly decided that she didn't like this man at all. Beside her Stiles clenched his right hand into a tight fist.

"Now, I'm your principal, but I am also a fan, so don't think I'll be content to watch you merely beat this team." the man, and apparently principal, told and his eyes seemed to darken as his voice rose in intensity. "Get out there and murder them."

"What the hell?" Ella breathed in shock and the playful look in her brother's eyes had completely vanished as he stared down at her. He looked afraid and Ella felt her own stomach churn.

"Let's go find your father in the seats." Melissa spoke into her ear to be heard over the noise the players were making and Ella was tempted to ignore her and stay with her brother.

She didn't understand what was going on, but something the principal said had definitely spooked him. Hell, she was spooked as well and she had no idea why.

Melissa all but dragged Ella out the room with a hand around her wrist and she felt Scott's eyes on them as they passed him.

They made it to the field a minute later, but Ella couldn't shake the unsettling feeling in her stomach as she sat down beside Melissa on one of the bleachers.

She had half a mind to ask Melissa and her father what was going, but didn't think she would get a satisfying answer.

Ella was distracted from her thoughts, when a girl with red hair sat down beside her and it took her a moment to recognize Lydia Martin, all grown up.

She was at least one foot taller than when Ella had last seen her. Lydia's lips were colored pink with lip gloss and black eyeliner was drawn around her green eyes, making them stand out from the rest of her features.

She was wearing a long white knitted cardigan and Ella was surprised to see her in jeans as she clearly remembered Lydia as a skirt/dress girl. She didn't recall seeing her in anything else as a kid.

"Hi, Lydia." Ella spoke and did her best to sound cheerful. The girl looked startled that Ella knew her name and Lydia studied her for a long moment without seeming to recognize her.

"Do I know you?" she questioned with a frown and Ella remembered Stiles telling her that the redhead wasn't exactly the sweet little girl Ella used to know any longer.

"I'm Ella. I used to be your sitter, when you were seven." Ella tried reminding her and a smile tugged at the corner of Lydia's mouth, when she remembered the older girl.

Ella had only been thirteen at the time, but it had been easy tasks like picking Lydia up from school and spending a couple of hours with the girl until her mother returned home from work.

Lydia's parents had been in the middle of their divorce and Natalie Martin had struggled with keeping everything together.

Enter Ella, who by chance had found Lydia wandering around at the edge of the woods one day after school, brought her home and received a job offer to watch the younger girl a couple of times a week for a few dollars.

"You're Stiles' older sister." Lydia stated as her eyes glanced over the older girl, probably trying to determine if she was a dorky as her younger brother.

 _And your future sister-in-law if Stiles' ten year plan holds_ , Ella added in her mind. She had known about her brother's major crush on Lydia from the very first day Stiles came home from school, looking particularly cross-eyed.

Ella hadn't really seen Lydia since her sitter duties ended after a year's time, but Stiles' descriptions had kept an image of the girl alive in her head. Strawberry blonde, 5'3 and green eyes. And she was definitely beautiful.

"Yeah. Sadly I can't run from that." Ella replied with a shrug and was happy to see Lydia smile. She seemed nervous and slightly distracted. "How are you? It's been years since I last saw you."

"I'm good." was all Lydia said and then looked away as if she expected their conversation to end at that.

"How's school?" Ella asked instead, determined to catch up with the girl. She recalled how a seven-year-old Lydia had easily solved mathematical equations that Ella still wouldn't be able to do to this day.

"Fine." Lydia replied with a shrug and didn't seem to want to continue, but Ella wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Are you taking the PSATs soon?" she questioned, knowing that Lydia could easily get a perfect score now if she wanted to.

"I took them last year."

"Of course you did." Ella said with a proud smile because she couldn't help but still feel some affection for the girl. Lydia Martin was by far the smartest person she knew, and probably would ever know.

Ella looked away, when she noticed Lydia looking slightly flustered. She remembered then how Stiles had once complained about the girl hiding her genius from their classmates just to be popular, and was suddenly worried she had made Lydia uncomfortable.

She almost asked how Lydia was doing after her attack at the winter formal dance and her subsequent disappearance, but Ella doubted that she wanted to talk about that either.

And she was also pretty sure that Stiles had told her everything there was to know about it over the phone.

 _Like how he saw Lydia Martin completely naked and then tripped over his own feet_ , Ella recalled with a scrunch up of her nose. They really did share too much.

"Are you planning to finish high school early then?" Ella decided to ask instead and Lydia shook her head in response.

"I have started looking at different universities, though." Lydia then offered as a way to continue their conversation and Ella smiled encouragingly. "You study at Stanford, right?"

Ella wasn't sure how Lydia knew that about her. Unless Stiles for some reason had wasted an opportunity talking to the red-head by rambling about his older sister.

Or maybe she had just found out on her own. It probably wasn't that hard to fit the pieces of Ella's absence and the fact had Stiles had a shirt that said 'Stanford University' together. He had been a dork enough to wear it to school during his freshmen year.

"I do. Major in English alongside the teaching programs. I want to be an English teacher."

"Are you taking your master's afterwards?" Lydia asked with what sounded like real interest and Ella was happy that she was starting to loosen up a bit.

"I have to at some point to keep my teaching license. But right now, no more school for me." Ella told and shook her head before pausing in thought. "Which I guess doesn't make any sense at all."

Lydia pressed her lips together to hide a laugh and Ella let out one of her own. She then looked down at the field to find her brother staring at them in bewilderment and waved at him.

"Have you thought about what you want to major in?" Ella asked the redhead as she turned her attention back to her and found the girl genuinely smiling at her.

"Double major in math and biology. Or chemistry. I'm still undecided." Lydia told and her eyes seemed to brighten a little as she talked. Ella had a feeling that Lydia had never really had this conversation before with anyone.

"Good thing there's more than two years to graduation then." Ella said with a teasing smile and then frowned when the realization hit her that her little brother was actually turning 17 today. "I feel old now."

"You know, you're not allowed to say that until you're over forty." Melissa muttered from beside her.

"It's just weird how it feels like only a couple of years ago that I watched Lydia do my homework."

"You watched who do what?" her father questioned loudly with raised eyebrows and Ella's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Lydia for help. But the girl only smiled back in amusement.

"It's not like I paid her. Lydia wanted to. I told her it was wrong and unethical, but she just wouldn't stop nagging me, so I had to let her do it. Think of it this way, dad. I helped cultivate a genius." Ella explained quickly and let out a nervous laugh at the end.

Her father couldn't exactly punish her for it and Lydia had in all seriousness nagged her, but she still felt like a child caught with her hands in the cookie jar.

"The only A you ever got in math?"

"Technically… that was Lydia's first A. Good work, by the way, Lydia."

Lydia smiled at the recognition and then bit her lower lip as to not laugh at how Ella was digging herself further into a hole.

"Didn't your mother give you ten bucks as a reward?" the sheriff asked and Ella felt her guilt multiply by a hundred. He couldn't just bring her mother up like that. It wasn't fair.

"Yes and I bought Lydia a lot of ice cream with the money." Ella argued with a pointed finger and looked at Lydia, who finally decided to help by nodding.

"Actually mom found out a couple of months later, when I got a D on my next test. I guess Stiles gets his detective skills from her." she then added with a smile and her father looked as if he might throw something after her. "Don't worry. The sarcasm is all you."

"You wanna switch?" her father asked Melissa casually as he motioned between Ella, Stiles and Scott, but the nurse shook her head vehemently.

Ella glared playfully after her father, but he was suddenly distracted by something on the lacrosse field.

"Oh no, why is my son running on the field?"

"Because he's on the team?" Melissa suggested and the sheriff looked at her and then his daughter with surprise, blinking as if making sure he was seeing it right.

Ella was smiling widely down at her brother, who awkwardly waved at her.

"He is. He's on the team, he's on the field." her father was muttering and Ella watched in slight horror as he stood, threw a fist in the air and yelled, "my son is on the field!"

"Dear god." Ella muttered in shame and hid her face in her hands as the people around them stared at her father. She generally loved to embarrass Stiles, but when it was her father doing it she was usually hit by embarrassment as well.

A couple of minutes later the game began and Ella was cringing harder than she ever had before as her brother was a royal fuck-up on the field. There was a reason why he always sat on the bench.

Stiles managed to catch the ball a few times, only to either drop it or get tackled hard to the ground.

"He's just warming up." Melissa tried to reason, but Ella just sent her a helpless look. People were starting to boo at him and the rest of the team.

"He's probably just a little nervous. Plenty of time for them to turn it around." Lydia said without believing a word of it and the sheriff hid his face in his hands.

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers." Ella muttered to herself as she watched her brother getting thrown to the ground once more and flinched at the impact.

"Why are you quoting Shakespeare?" Lydia asked quietly without taking her eyes off the field and sighed heavily when the other team scored again.

"I'm not sure. Calms me down, I guess."

The game continued in the same embarrassing manner and Ella was certain that Stiles would be covered in bruises when they got home, despite all the protection gear.

But then a new player entered the field and Ella watched in confusion as the Beacon Hills player started tackling his teammates.

"Who is that and what the hell is he doing?"

"Isaac Lahey and I have no idea." Lydia replied with a winch as another player flew through the air and was substituted by one from the bench.

"Lahey? That's Isaac Lahey?"

"You know him?"

"I dated his brother, Camden, in high school. He was my first." Ella told absentmindedly as her eyes followed Isaac around the field.

She hoped that he would leave Stiles out of whatever he was doing. She remembered Isaac as a kid, grinning at her with mischief shining from his blue eyes. He had definitely changed a lot; becoming both taller and broader.

Ella and Camden had started dating just before his graduation and while she was finishing her junior year. She wasn't really in love with him, when they had sex about a month into their relationship. Not that she didn't care about him. She did, a lot.

But Ella hadn't needed it to be something special with lit candles and all sorts of romance. He was (very) hot with his dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and broad shoulders, she was curious and they were comfortable with each other.

The first time had been awkward and it was neither really painful nor pleasurable for her. Second time was slightly better, third time good and the fourth time she had called out his name; leading them to almost getting caught.

Their relationship had ended after six months, when Camden left Beacon Hills to join the US military. Two years later Ella learned that he had died in combat. She had gotten drunk and cried her eyes out.

On her next weekend home from Stanford she had gone by Camden's old house to visit his father and brother, but Mr. Lahey had told her to go to hell with her sympathies and home-baked snickerdoodles.

Ella didn't notice the others staring at her until Lydia nudged her in the side with an elbow and motioned with her eyes towards the adults on the other side of Ella.

Melissa looked as if she wanted to laugh, while her father wore a horrified expression on his face. Ella's eyes widened as she realized what she had accidentally revealed.

"Kiss. He was my first kiss." Ella tried to elaborate, but knew she had failed when her father shook his head and waved off her explanation.

They both knew it was a lie, but this was not something her father had ever needed to know.

Her embarrassment was forgotten, when it suddenly was Isaac who hit the ground hard and she noticed Lydia stiffen beside her as the Beacon Hills player, who had caused the fall, took off his helmet.

Ella was almost certain she saw the blonde guy smile.

Melissa suddenly stood up and pushed past Ella and Lydia to get down to the field, running towards her son as Isaac was carried away from the game.

Apparently Scott was once again allowed to play. Melissa looked a lot more nervous when she returned to her seat and didn't answer Ella's questioning gaze.

There was fifteen minutes left of the game, but the team wasn't doing much better with Scott on the field.

Ten minutes left and Ella saw Scott run off the field. She looked at Melissa in confusion, but the woman seemed fully engrossed with the game.

Five minutes left and the ball landed in front of Stiles' feet.

As all the other players were at the other end of the field, there was no one standing between Stiles and the goal except for the keeper.

Ella sucked in air as Stiles started running towards the goal and then suddenly stopped, looking around frantically as if he didn't know what to do.

"What the hell is he doing?" Ella whispered horrified and watched as the other players ran fast towards her brother.

Coach Finstock was yelling at him to throw the ball towards the goal, but it wasn't until Lydia screamed "shoot" that Stiles snapped out of it.

Ella jumped to her feet along with her father as the ball made it past the keeper. Somehow her brother had actually managed to score and Ella laughed in disbelieve as she hugged father, squeezing Melissa between them.

When Stiles managed to even the score with two minutes left, everyone started cheering wildly and Ella jumped up and down, unable to stay seated. Her heart was beating fast and her voice got stuck in her throat as pride welled up in her chest.

Stiles' third goal brought the team in the lead with less than a minute left and Ella couldn't help but pull Lydia into a tight hug.

The girl wore a bright smile and they both turned to look at the field again, where they found Stiles staring at them with an obvious grin on his face. Or staring at Lydia more likely.

Ella glanced up at the clock to see how much time was left of the game and was surprised to see a lonely player stand at the other end of the field without taking part in his teammates' joy. It looked like the blonde, who had tackled Isaac.

Then the whistled sounded and the game was over.

But the cheering didn't last long as all of the lights suddenly turned off and Ella looked around in confusion, instinctively grabbing Melissa's hand. She was not fond of the dark.

Someone screamed and everyone started panicking. Melissa kept her from falling over, when she was pushed by someone from behind, who was trying to escape some invisible danger.

Her father grabbed her shoulder, when Melissa left to find Scott in the chaos and they managed to get down from the bleachers without falling.

A body lay in the middle of the field and most of the players had gathered around it, keeping it from Ella's view. Suddenly the lights were back on and Lydia started screaming "Jackson" as she ran past Ella and towards the body.

Ella felt cold dread seep into her bones as she moved closer as well and saw Melissa giving the boy – Jackson, she guessed – CPR.

She started to panic, when she took a turn around herself and couldn't find Stiles anywhere. Ella grabbed her father's arm tightly as he came to stand beside her, looking just as shaken.

"Dad, where's Stiles?" Ella asked with a trembling voice, but he didn't seem to hear her as his eyes searched the field; looking for his son.

"Where's Stiles, my son?" she heard him mutter and he stepped away from her to move to the middle of the circle standing around the body.

"Stiles!" Ella called out desperately in the hopes that he was just hiding behind some of his teammates. But he didn't appear and she barely noticed Scott grabbing her arm as she stumbled slightly. "Stiles!"

"Where the hell is my son?!"

* * *

 **Thoughts?**


	2. WWHD (or: What Would Hermione Do)?

**If anyone noticed: yes I did change the summary and one of the genres from 'humor' to 'drama'. Cause while there is definitely humor in this story, I don't think Teen Wolf could ever be called a comedy show. And this story won't be a comedy either. Hope you'll read it anyway.**

 **I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins_

* * *

Ella was pacing the floor of Stiles' room, cracking her knuckles nervously as she waited for her father to finish his phone call.

Her brother had been missing for two hours and Ella was beginning to think that Einstein had been wrong about his definition of insanity. Because she was quite sure that this was it.

She had no idea how the evening had turned out this way. Sure things had seemed a little off in the locker room before the game, but Ella didn't want to think about how that might have anything to do with Stiles' disappearance.

Even if it did, it wouldn't help them find him since Ella had no idea what had actually been going on.

Scott's possible explanation about her brother being freaked out from the attention didn't sound right to her. And Stiles would never willingly leave his jeep behind like he had.

Something was wrong and it was slowly making Ella insane not knowing what. Like there was something just at the edge of her sight, but she couldn't catch it no matter how fast she turned her head.

She had the sensation that this must be what having a panic attack in slow motion felt like. Her breathing was shallow, her hands shook slightly as she continued to crack her joints, and she wasn't sure how much longer her legs would be able to carry her.

"Yeah, I'm not finding any clues here." her father spoke into his phone as he walked into Stiles' bedroom and sent Ella a despairing look. She tried a comforting smile and sat down on the bed, when she didn't succeed.

"Listen, if he," the sheriff said and Ella could tell he was having a hard time getting the next words out, "if he shows up at the hospital… okay, thanks."

Ella stared down at her hands as her father ended the call and found herself being pulled to her feet by him the next moment. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as he hugged her, forcing herself not to cry.

She needed to be strong for her father and Stiles, wherever he was. Crying wouldn't help anyone.

Feeling someone staring at her, she opened her eyes and found her little brother standing in the door with a cut lip and a large scratch on his cheek.

Neither was bleeding and he looked otherwise untouched, but his eyes looked so vulnerable that a cold anger quickly spread through Ella's veins and settled in her heart. Like a shard of the Snow Queen's mirror had embedded itself there.

Someone had hurt her little brother.

"Stiles." Ella breathed when she finally blinked and pushed herself out of her father's embrace.

Stiles had to take a step back to regain his balance, when she practically threw herself at him and she heard him groan in pain.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked in a soft voice and reached for the scratch on his cheek, but he turned away from her touch.

Ella frowned as she curled her fingers into a fist and lowered her hand. He barely even looked at her, staring over her right shoulder instead, but Ella was too angry to back away.

"Who did this to you?"

Her voice came out sharper than she meant for, but Stiles finally met her gaze. Ella felt her anger fade slightly at the almost pleading look in his eyes that told her to leave it alone.

She stared at him for a long moment before stepping away to let their father make sure his youngest was okay.

"I'll find the first aid kit." Ella muttered as she left the room, brushing her hand against Stiles' on her way out.

The dominating voice in her head told her to stay with Stiles until he had told her who had hurt him, so she could kill said person. That was the 'I'm your big sister and will do everything in my power to protect you' voice.

But another voice, which she didn't quite know the name of, understood why Stiles didn't want to talk to her and made her leave the room.

He was going to lie. He was going to lie about what had happened, Ella would see through it and he wasn't going to tell her the truth no matter how much she asked. He was going to lie, so in the end it was easier not to say anything.

But she did hear him lie to their father about how he had been mouthing off to the other team and they had beaten him up. She could hear Stiles assuring their father that he was okay.

Ella rarely saw or heard her father angry, but she could feel his hot anger in contrast to her cold one.

His hot anger, which flared up and dimmed down in minutes compared to her own cold anger, which could last for hours, days, years if she felt like it. It was silent, hidden, but something Ella felt only rarely. She believed in forgiveness, but not when it came to her little brother.

When Ella returned with the first aid kit Stiles and her father were hugging each other tightly. They pulled away, when she tried to squeeze past them through the doorway and Stiles' eyes looked wet with unshed tears.

"Dad, maybe you should let the others know." Ella suggested when he lingered inside the room and he nodded absentmindedly before leaving.

The silence between the Stilinski siblings was tense as they sat down across from each other on the bed. Stiles looked like he was about to object, when she carefully started cleaning dried blood off his lower lip.

She knew what he was going to say, 'I'm fine. I can do it myself', but something stopped him. Maybe he found as much comfort in what she was doing as she did.

And they could avoid talking for a little longer if she was concentrating on something else.

The cut on his lips was shallow and would probably heal within a week, even though his lip would probably swell up a bit. The scratch on his cheek looked the same, but his eyes told a different story. As if it was more than just his skin that had broken.

"This might a sting a little." Ella warned him softly before she patted his lip with a disinfection wipe to make sure the cut was completely clean. Stiles barely even blinked.

"What happened?" she asked as calmly as she could despite her anger and finished with his lips, letting her hand fall to the space between them on the bed. "And please don't tell me the same lie you told dad."

"I wasn't lying." Stiles argued lamely, but didn't shy away from Ella's gaze.

They stared at each other for what felt like minutes. It reminded Ella of a game they used to play as kids, but this was nothing like the warm memories of her childhood.

This felt like something was askew. As if all the paintings in a room had been tilted an inch so all the frames were crooked and the world somehow was out of balance. She didn't understand why or how it had been done and it was slowly turning her anger into frustration.

And if she wasn't careful she would lose her well-maintained control and take that frustration out on Stiles. She didn't want to do that. Especially not today.

But part of maintaining that control over her emotions, was knowing why she even had a reason to feel those things and Stiles wouldn't tell her. He knew, she was sure.

Ella hadn't felt so helpless or angry since they had lost their mother. Now it was as if she was once again sitting in front of an eight year old Stiles, who wouldn't tell her how to make things better. How to help the little she could.

It wasn't easy being strong, when the world around her felt so fragile.

"Tell me how to help." Ella tried instead and reached for one of his hands before stopping herself midway. She had a feeling that cleaning his lip was as much as Stiles would let her touch him right now.

"You can't. There's nothing to help with, Ella."

"Then why do you look like this? Huh? I know that something is wrong, Stiles. Both you and Scott, and even Melissa seemed anxious today, nervous about something. Does this have something to do with that?"

Stiles' eyes stared into hers and he seemed to be debating something with himself. As if he wanted to tell her, but couldn't. Ella noticed how his long fingers weaved in and out of each other before forming into tight fists.

"It's a long story and I'm tired." was all he said and fell back unto his bed, signaling that their conversation was over.

"I still need to clean-"

"It's fine! I'm okay." Stiles snapped at her and Ella flinched at the tone of his voice, looking away to hide her shock. She felt her own anger coil into a knot in her stomach, but didn't show any notion of it.

The Stilinski siblings rarely had any serious fights, and even when they did, there was a certain playfulness in their exchanges. They liked to poke at each other until the other yelled, but they never used the harsh tone that now laced Stiles' voice.

Once again the dominating voice inside her head told her to stay, to make him talk somehow, but Ella also knew that this was as far as their conversation would go tonight. And pressing her brother for answers only seemed to strengthen the tension between them.

Ella remained on the bed for several seconds before finally nodding dejectedly, gathering what she had used to clean his cut and stood up. She stopped at the door to look at her brother once more, who had his back turned to her.

"I'm ordering pizza. Do you want some?"

"I'm not hungry."

Ella closed the door silently after her as she left the room and went downstairs. It wasn't until she stood in the kitchen that she noticed she was still carrying the first aid kit.

Her father entered the room as she put down the kit on the kitchen counter and he looked just as worn out as she felt. Her nerves were tattered and her limbs felt heavy now that the adrenalin was slowly leaving her body.

Fear and anger had kept her going for the last couple of hours, but now it was draining her instead.

"How is he?" her father asked as he sat down by the kitchen table and rubbed his forehead. Ella grabbed one of his hands as she sat down beside him and he offered her a brief smile.

"He is okay. I think." Ella told quietly and played with her father's finger, feeling tears fill her eyes.

It was a lie, really. She knew he was not, but he wouldn't tell her why and the frustration she felt because of it made her want to yell and cry.

Ella did neither. She wasn't a child any longer – hadn't been for years – and couldn't just scream until she got what she wanted.

"I'm ordering pizza. Do you want any?" she asked and abruptly stood up to find her phone, while blinking away her tears before her father could see them.

Ella left the room before he could give an answer and was placing an order at a close by restaurant as she strode back into the kitchen. Her father didn't seem to have moved a muscle.

"Dad?" Ella called softly and sat down beside him again. He looked at her with tired eyes. "Dad, what's going on?"

"I don't know, Ella. I don't know."

She watched him for several seconds, debating with herself whether or not she should leave it alone, but in the end she snapped. She needed to know. To understand how everything had started falling apart around her in just a few hours.

"There must be something. Some clue to why all of these things are suddenly happening. Why people are getting killed, why everyone is acting strange, why someone kidnapped my little brother and beat him up for God knows what reason, why everything is just _wrong_."

Ella jumped in her seat, when her father slammed his fist unto the table and she looked at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

"I don't know!"

Ella stared at her shaking hands as a pregnant silence fell over them. Silence. There was too much of it.

The Stilinski household had always been filled with noise. Scott and Stiles playing video games at a high volume, which in turn made Ella yell at them to turn it down. Her father trying to broker some peace between them. Her mother… her mother laughing at one of Stiles' bad jokes. That was home.

But this… this was just unbearable silence. And she wasn't sure she was strong enough to carry it. Not again.

Ella had barely kept her family from falling apart eight years earlier, when the same heavy silence had lain over their home like a thick blanket, making it impossible to breathe properly.

And none of them had made it through unscathed then.

Her father had not yet taken of his wedding ring and she wasn't sure if he would ever move on. Stiles had begun having regular panic attacks and Ella had issues of her own that she was yet to admit to herself.

Only a few seconds had passed when Ella rose from her chair in an attempt to escape the room, but didn't make it far as her father gently grabbed her wrist.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay, dad. Really." she interrupted him with a teary smile and pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "I'm just gonna go read in the living room until the food arrives."

Her father let go of her with a solemn nod and Ella quickly escaped to her room, where she found her bag containing her copy of William Faulkner's _As I Lay Dying_. The paperback looked slightly worn after her many times rereading the book.

The silence that came with being alone was easier to handle, and if Ella was lucky she could forget the world around her for just a few minutes while she read the familiar words on the book's pages.

Fifteen minutes later she had settled into the sofa in the living room and was almost ten pages through, when she realized she hadn't read a single word and turned back to where she had started.

" _Before us the thick dark current runs. It talks up to us in a murmur become ceaseless and myriad, the yellow surface dimpled monstrously into fading swirls travelling along the surface for an instant, silent-_ "

Ella's second attempt at reading was interrupted, when the doorbell rang and she quickly got up from her seat, thinking it was the food. It didn't register with her that she had placed the order less than twenty minutes ago and the restaurant probably wasn't that fast.

"What are you doing here?" Ella spoke before she could think, when she found Lydia standing on the other side of the door.

The girl looked as if she had been crying and Ella immediately felt bad about her loose tongue. But also very surprised to find Lydia, of all people, at their door step.

"I just wanted to talk to Stiles. Is this a bad time?"

"No!" Ella exclaimed hastily and started worrying she was going to scare Lydia away with her strange mood. "I mean, of course not. Come in."

Truthfully, she was quite certain that Stiles didn't want any visitors, but this was Lydia Martin, so she was sure the girl had to be the exception.

"Are you okay?" she asked Lydia in a gentle voice as Ella led her upstairs to Stiles' room.

She had managed to calm a little down herself – reading did that to her – but seeing Lydia's swollen, red eyes brought forth the protecting-big-sister gene, which had been working overtime for the last few hours.

The boy, Jackson, who had fallen on the field, was dead and Lydia seemed to have a close relation to him, giving her reaction to seeing him lying on the grass.

"No." was Lydia's answer, and Ella simply nodded as she paused outside Stiles' closed door and knocked.

"I said I'm fine!" Stiles called from inside his room, but Ella knocked again, harder this time, and she could hear him muttering to himself as he got up to open the door.

Stiles paused in surprise when Ella stepped aside to reveal Lydia, who didn't seem to know where to look.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Stiles looked between Lydia and his sister in confusion, but the older girl just shrugged. When the teenagers seemed unable to continue, Ella guided Lydia inside the room with a sigh and closed the door behind them.

Ella knew what she was doing was wrong, when she decided to stay by the door and eavesdrop. But with everything going on she sort of considered their home to be in a state of emergency, so old rules were suspended for the time being.

Ella hoped Lydia was the solution to make her brother talk. She needed him to talk if she was going to find a way to get everything back to normal. Back to the noise and irritating each other.

Usually Stiles would notice that she hadn't actually left, but now he was too preoccupied.

Ella couldn't make out their words at first because of their low voices, but then there was a pause and it sounded as if Lydia was on the verge of crying.

"They wouldn't let me see him. I'm supposed to give him something. He kept asking for it back."

Ella figured that she was talking about Jackson and that their relationship had probably been of a romantic nature.

When Lydia started sobbing, Ella ran to her room seven feet down the hall as she heard Stiles move towards the door. She wasn't going to get caught eavesdropping.

She peeked through her door a minute later to find Stiles returning to his room with a toilet roll. Ella then sneaked back to stand outside the room, when she was certain the coast was clear, and could hear them talking again. The door was open this time.

"It's just some stuff I bought. For your birthday." Stiles explained awkwardly and Ella realized that Lydia had discovered the large collection of gifts, including women's jewelry and a flat screen, Stiles had in his room.

"For me?"

"Yeah, I just… I kinda didn't know what to get you, so I just bought you like a bunch of stuff. Like a lot of stuff. You know, I was gonna return anything that I didn't give you."

He had better return those gifts considering most of them had been bought for Ella's money. Her little brother had called and begged for a loan, which she had granted him because he was her little brother and saying no to him was hard sometimes. Especially, when it was her lovesick brother asking.

"A flat screen TV?" Lydia asked in what sounded like a 'are you kidding me?' tone and Ella shook her head at the notion that Stiles had actually thought that a good idea to buy as a gift.

"Yeah, that I'm definitely returning."

Lydia's phone made a sound then and Ella heard movement inside the room. "You're gonna want to read this."

"How much do you know about this stuff?" Stiles asked after a moment of silence and Ella stiffened, when she heard the almost angry tone in his voice.

Had this "stuff" something to do with whoever had busted him up? Or was that just a small part of something more terrifying? Something scary enough to make her brother snap at Lydia.

"Pieces." Lydia replied and then whispered something Ella couldn't hear.

"Yeah, well guess what? The other half is like a freaking nightmare."

Ella felt her gut twist at Stiles' words. Maybe she wasn't overreacting. Maybe something _was_ seriously wrong. The thought didn't ease her mind at all. She might not be crazy or paranoid, but someone else might be. Someone, who was able to hurt a teenage boy.

"I don't care. I can help him." Lydia spoke determinedly and Ella was pulled from her worried thoughts. Who needed help and with what? Scott? Isaac?

 _Jackson_ , Ella thought for a brief moment, but shook her head at that. The boy was dead.

"See, that's the problem. You don't care about getting hurt." Stiles said and she could hear the volume of his voice rising dangerously. She hated how desperate he had started to sound.

 _Please don't shout at the girl of your dreams, Stiles._

"But you know how I'll feel? I'll be devastated. And if you die, I will literally go out of my freaking mind. You see, death doesn't happen to you, Lydia. It happens to everyone around you. To all the people left standing at your funeral, trying to figure out how they're gonna live the rest of their lives now without you in it!"

Ella stood frozen as she listened to her brother's speech. Her hands and back were pressed against the wall both to keep her upright and to stop herself from walking inside the room.

Where did all of that come from? For some reason it sounded as if it wasn't only about Lydia and Stiles' crush on her. This was just as much about someone else. Someone Ella too felt the loss of everyday.

An image of a young Stiles kneeling by their mother's grave after the funeral appeared inside her mind and Ella closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to stop herself from tearing up.

"Then look at my face, huh? Come on, you actually think this was meant to hurt me?" Stiles continued to yell and Ella's nail dug into the palm of her hand, leaving crescent markings in the soft skin.

 _Who then, Stiles? Who was it meant to hurt?_

No words were spoken for a long moment until she heard Stiles apologize and Lydia telling him that it was okay. When she heard Lydia moving towards the door she ran downstairs as to not get caught listening.

Ella grabbed her book and threw herself in the sofa just as Lydia came walking downstairs, looking thoroughly pissed. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shined with determination and anger.

The sheriff looked at the girl in surprise as he passed her on the stairs and shared a brief look with his daughter, who shook her head. He disappeared behind a wall then and Ella figured he was going to have a talk with his son.

"Lydia!" Ella called, when it looked like she was about to just leave the house.

Lydia paused in the middle of the room, her hands clenched into tight fists and Ella got up to stand beside her.

"I really need to go." Lydia told her and Ella nodded in understanding. Not that she understood why, but the look in the girl's eyes was urgent as if she was losing time by just talking to Ella.

"Look, whatever Stiles told you… It's been a rough night." Ella spoke calmly, hiding her own distress over what she had heard Stiles say, and Lydia slightly narrowed her eyes at the older girl.

"I heard him yelling." Ella lied with a shrug, but Lydia seemed to believe her and looked to the floor as if she was the one, who was embarrassed by it. "Lydia, will you please tell me what is going on?"

"We have this friend and he needs my help. It's difficult to explain. Scott is helping, but I just thought…" Lydia's voice trailed off as she looked towards the stairs and Ella let out a long sigh.

"You thought Stiles would help too."

Ella calmed her fingers through her hair, when Lydia nodded and then closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.

Judging by whatever was going on around her, it wasn't just getting a friend out of some innocent trouble.

This was potentially dangerous and as of now, her brother wasn't a part of it. But Ella could convince him, she was sure. Convince him to help his friends. Convince him to do something that was possibly life threatening.

This was her little brother. She would do anything to protect him. And if something bad happened to him she would be the one losing her mind.

But she also knew Stiles wouldn't forgive himself for not helping his friends when they needed him.

"Just… give me a minute and he will come down, okay?" Ella told Lydia in the end and the girl frowned before nodding and remained where Ella left her.

Ella could hear her father's voice as she came closer to Stiles' room and paused in the doorway to let him finish.

She wondered what he would think about Stiles' speech. She could tell him, but she knew it would break his heart like it had broken hers. She couldn't, wouldn't do that to him.

"You scored and the tide just turned. And you scored again. And again." her father told Stiles.

Ella could hear the smile in his voice even though he had his back turned towards her. Even Stiles couldn't help but smile a little.

He looked up then and caught her eyes briefly before looking back at their father.

"You weren't just the MVP of the game. You were a hero."

"I'm not a hero, dad."

Ella hated seeing her brother like this. So unsure of himself. So certain that he didn't deserve the praise he was given. He had always been good at faking confidence, but now he didn't even seem to bother to do that either.

The cold anger burned inside her stomach once again, but now wasn't the time to be the overprotective big sister. Not with what she intended to convince him to do.

"You were tonight." their father said with a hand on Stiles' shoulder and got up from his seat by Stiles' desk. He didn't seem surprised to find Ella listening and squeezed her arm comfortingly as he walked by.

"I'm not a hero." Stiles repeated in a whisper as he looked away from the door and his sister, leaning over his desk.

He let out a small yelp in surprise, when his chair was suddenly pulled away from the desk and he almost fell over. Stiles looked up to find his sister staring at him with her arms crossed and her lips set in a straight line.

"Stiles, get up." Ella ordered him with a gesture of her head, channeling her anger into getting what she wanted, but the boy remained seated and simply glared back.

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

"No! No, I can't just leave you alone." she exclaimed with her hands waving in the air and Stiles looked startled by her outburst. "I can't just stand here while my little brother mopes about how worthless he thinks he is. You're anything but."

Ella tried then to calm down and her voice became quieter as she took the seat their father had just occupied.

"Look, I don't know what's going on and it's freaking me the hell out, but I know that your friends need you. I know that Scott needs you."

She didn't really know that, but it wasn't a bad guess. If Scott was involved in something bad then he would need his best friend there. Lydia thought so as well.

"Scott doesn't need me." Stiles argued quietly and it almost sounded like he was talking to himself.

Ella pushed down her anger once more and made a silent vow to punch whoever had done this to her brother hard in the face. See how they liked a taste of their own medicine.

"Scott always needs you. Just as you need Scott. You can't complete a puzzle without all of its pieces. It's fate, or something." Ella told and frowned when she lost her train of thought. Stiles looked at her as if she was the one missing a few puzzle pieces.

"So you're not a hero. Big deal. We can't all be the big hero, who always saves the day. Some of us need to be Hermione Granger. Or Ron Weasley."

"Is this going somewhere?"

"They weren't heroes at the beginning of the story. But they helped Harry do what he had to. Do you think Harry would have even made it to the philosopher's stone in time if it wasn't for Ron and Hermione?"

Ella could feel herself getting worked up and stood up to pace the floor. She knew that her Harry Potter analogy was strange at best, but it was the only thing she could come up with in the moment.

"And who cut the head of Nagini? Neville fucking Longbottom. Harry Potter would probably have died in the first book if it wasn't for all of them. The 'not-heroes', who helped their friend and saved the world."

"You can't just apply Harry Potter to everything. It's fictional." Stiles retorted as he stood up and Ella knew he was reaching since he usually compared the fictional world to the real one as often as she did. "This is real, Ella. No magic tricks that just solves everything."

 _Forget the punching. I'm gonna kill the person, who made Stiles lose faith in Harry Potter._

"You know I'm right, Stiles." Ella said and moved forward to stand right in front of him. "And being a hero isn't about being brave in the face of danger, but being afraid and doing the brave thing anyway. You can do this, whatever it is. I believe in you."

"You are certifiably crazy, you know that right?" her brother said after a long moment of silence, but wore a smile that stretched the cut on his lip. "And the biggest nerd ever."

"Oh, shut up." Ella laughed with a roll of her eyes and pulled her little brother into a long hug.

Her anger crumbled slightly at the physical contact and it felt like they had managed to break down the wall that stood between for the last hour. It felt right and like home.

"Now go down, get your girl and save the world."

Stiles' smile fell slightly at her mention of Lydia. They both knew that he might have messed that up with all of his yelling.

But at least Lydia could be in no doubt that he cared deeply about her. It was slowly turning out to be more than just a crush.

"She's not my girl."

"So she might be in love with someone else. So what? I don't see a ring."

"We're seventeen." Stiles pointed out with a deep frown, thinking that the 'rule' didn't really apply to high school crushes and then wondering if Ella had ever taking advantage of it.

"I stand by what I said."

Stiles laughed then, gave his sister a brief hug and walked past her towards the door.

"Hey." Ella spoke softly as he made to the doorway and he turned around to look at her. "I love you."

"I know." Stiles replied with a wink and then ran down the hall with his sister's voice calling after him.

"Who's the nerd now?"

* * *

It was almost midnight when Stiles made it back home and he wasn't surprised to find his sister sitting in the living room, half asleep and with a book in her hands.

"So… Did you save the world?" Ella asked with a yawn, when he sat down beside her and moved under the blanket she had draped over her legs.

"Yeah."

Stiles returned his sister's smile despite how tired he was and let his head rest against the back of the sofa. So much had happened within a few hours that it still had to sink in.

Jackson was alive and a werewolf, Scott and Allison had broken up, and his jeep probably needed some repairs after he had literally driven it through a wall.

"And your ten year Lydia plan? Moving into the next phase, perhaps?" Ella teased lightly, but sent him a look full of sympathy when he shook his head.

"I'm thinking it's more like a fifteen year plan now. But it's still in motion."

"Good. I like her."

A comfortable silence fell between them and Stiles closed his eyes; finally able to let go of some his anxiety. Until his sister decided to speak again, of course.

"Will you tell me what happened?"

Her voice was soft, but being a scholar in all that was Ella, he could hear the tension underneath. Stiles also knew that he had to tell her something. She would never let it go otherwise.

"It really is a long story, El. There was a man and he wanted something from Scott. He tried to force it by getting one of our… uh, friends into a lot of trouble. And he tried to get to Scott through me."

"He did that to you?" Ella questioned with a gesture towards his face; her voice calm, but her eyes hard with anger. It was a look Stiles had only seen a handful of times and none of them this intense.

He had to look away as he nodded in confirmation.

"Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter now. It's over. He can't hurt anyone anymore."

When he looked at his sister she was just staring at him with a blank expression and Stiles rolled his eyes.

"We didn't kill him."

"I wasn't thinking that."

"Then why are you staring at me as if I just admitted to murder?"

"I'm not." Ella said with a frown and then seemed to realize she was still staring as she briefly looked down.

"You really think this sad bag of bones could kill someone?"

"I think you can do anything you put your mind into."

"Aw, thanks. That's very encouraging."

Their eyes met for a long moment before they both broke down laughing and Ella shushed them both as a reminder that their father was sleeping.

"So it's over? No more weird shit and secrets?" she asked when they had calmed down and Stiles' face morphed into a serious mask.

"El, there's always going to be weird shit happening in Beacon Hills. But it's over, I promise. You can go back to college and stop worrying all the time. We'll be okay."

"I won't ever stop worrying, Stiles. It's my job as your big sister. But I also trust you. And Scott. Maybe next time you could trust me and let me help. Okay?"

"Okay."

A silent moment passed between them and it felt significant somehow.

Stiles knew that he might not be able to do what she asked the next time a supernatural emergency presented itself, and he knew it would. But the thought of actually telling her what was really going on didn't seem as angst-inducing anymore.

She would believe him. She always did no matter how inconvenient the truth was.

"So do we have more pizza?" Stiles then asked when his stomach started growling and Ella laughed.

"In the kitchen." she told him and pointed in the direction. Stiles got up from his seat with a groan and walked through the silent house.

"Hey! Do you wanna watch a movie?" Ella called from the living room.

Stiles agreed even though he knew they'd probably both fall asleep in the middle of it. But he needed to do something normal that had nothing to do with werewolves, lizards and psychopathic old men.

"Star Wars?"

"Not any of the prequels." Stiles objected with his mouth full of pizza as he came back into the living room and his sister was giving him the best puppy dog eyes she could manage.

"But Ewan McGregor."

"But no. Do not make me sit through Jar Jar Binks."

"Fine. The birthday boy slash hero gets to decide." Ella gave in and grinned when Stiles rolled his eyes at her. She then ran upstairs to get the DVDs and returned with a gift as well, which she dropped in his hands.

"Here. I thought you should open it while it's actually still your birthday. Which means you have… two minutes."

Ella watched in silence as her brother unwrapped his gift and was surprised by his dumbfounded reaction. It was really just something she had picked out because she couldn't think of anything else, and because their father had mentioned Stiles' newfound interest in mythology and such.

"How did you… why… uhm, thanks." Stiles stammered, almost choking on the pizza in his mouth, and Ella looked at him funnily. She didn't think it was that bad a gift.

"Dad mentioned something about you being interested in that sort of stuff. So when I found it in a small book store, I thought of you. I can probably return it if you want something else."

"No. No, this is fine. It's perfect, El. Thank you." Stiles reassured her and offered her something that he hoped resembled a genuine smile. It was a great gift. But maybe a little too great.

 _Encyclopedia of Mythological and Supernatural Creatures_ felt heavy in his hands as if he was carrying more than just the weight of the book. Stiles had for a moment been certain that she somehow knew, but her explanation sounded real enough.

"You're welcome. Now are we going with four, five or six? I vote for Ewoks."

"Princess Leia in a gold bikini sounds good to me. Ow!"

Stiles scowled at his sister, who had punched his arm hard with a closed fist, and rubbed the now sore spot.

"I'm a now seventeen year old virgin. Leave me alone."

"That's just gross, Stiles."

Not that he was still a virgin. Ella wasn't bothered by that, because why would she. But she really didn't need to know what was going on in his head, involving Princess Leia in a gold bikini.

"Are we going to watch it or not?"

"Can you have just a little bit of patience? And go grab the rest of the pizza, will you?"

"I don't think it should be allowed to be bossed around on your birthday."

"It's past midnight, so it's not your birthday anymore!"

"You suck."

"Only my boyfriend."

"I think, I'm gonna be sick."

* * *

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	3. What's past is prologue

**Thank you so much to all you lovely people, who have favourited and followed the story so far. And even more for the few, but heartwarming reviews. Keep them coming;)**

 **I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _"_ _And, by that destiny, to perform an act  
Whereof what's past is prologue; what to come,  
In yours and my discharge."  
_  
William Shakespeare, _The Tempest_

* * *

Ella spent Sunday with her father and brother doing nothing special. They ate breakfast and simply talked.

There was still some tension there between the three of them.

Ella knowing that there was more to Stiles' story and the feeling that "it" wasn't actually over as he had told her. Their father knowing that Stiles had probably lied about the other team beating him up. Stiles having to keep secrets from the two people he loved the most.

It wasn't an obvious tension with awkward silences and stolen glances, but something felt off.

Their usual bantering and teasing felt almost stilted; as if they were trying too hard. Ella caught Stiles cutting himself off mid-sentence a couple of times, while talking about something him and Scott had been up to, only to quickly redirect his story.

The nightmare that had plagued Ella during the night didn't help her mood. Someone had been chasing her through the woods and no matter how fast she went she couldn't outrun them. She had woken when something sharp dug into her right calf and a soundless scream left her.

Ella had never believed in psychics predicting the future or having visions, but her nightmares all felt so real that she almost couldn't imagine them being just that.

Nothing she had dreamed seemed to have come true, but it still felt like there was some truth to them that she couldn't shake. Which made it harder not to worry about her father and brother, when she went back to Stanford.

It was lunch time when her father was called in to work. Jackson had risen from the dead somehow and Mr. Whittemore was causing a stir at the hospital, yelling at the doctors for being incompetent; a situation that apparently required to be dealt with by the sheriff.

So Ella and Stiles went out for lunch (after she assured her brother that she would pay, because apparently he needed the money more than his debt-ridden older sister).

"So how are you and dad?" Ella asked when Stiles finished complaining about all the homework he had to do for Monday morning.

"What do you mean?" Stiles said with a frown and paused in his endeavor to fit all of his food into his mouth at once.

"Nothing special." Ella replied with a shrug, even though she had a feeling what a possible answer might be.

She narrowed her eyes at her brother, when he looked strangely relieved by her words and put down her fork to give him her full attention.

"What do _you_ mean?"

"Nothing."

Stiles' answer came a little too fast and he almost spit the food out that he hadn't swallowed yet. She was used to her brother's appalling eating manners, but frowned in disgust anyway.

Ella didn't say anything as she waited for Stiles to swallow his food and gestured at his glass of water with her eyes, ordering him to drink so it would go faster.

"Stiles, tell me what you mean." she told him calmly as soon as he was free to speak again and he took another long sip of his water.

"I got dad fired."

They had purposely not told Ella that bit of information yet since they didn't want her to worry more about them than she already did. Stiles realized that this was definitely not the place to tell her either as soon as the words left his mouth.

"YOU WHAT?"

Ella's outburst attracted the attention of all the other guests in the diner and Stiles sent them all an awkward smile. Across from him, Ella was in the midst of taking a deep breath with her eyes closed.

She looked calm when she opened them again, but they still burned with frustration and disbelieve. Stiles couldn't tell if she was angry over what he had done or if it was the not being told part of it. He guessed the latter.

"You what?" Ella asked in a low voice and didn't seem to mind the few people that were still staring at them. "How?"

"It's a long story."

"Stiles, I swear to all that is holy…"

"I stole a prison transport van and kidnapped one of my classmates. Then I got a restraining order not to come within fifty feet of said classmate." Stiles explained in one breath and then went back to eating what was left of his lunch to give his sister time to comprehend what he had just told her.

"Can you please be serious for once?" Ella sighed and the irritation was clear in her voice.

She rarely got real angry with her brother, but the whole weekend had just been too overwhelming and she was slowly losing her patience. Anxiety and constant worrying did that to you.

"I am."

Ella studied him for a long moment without blinking, but found no deception in his eyes.

"Okay, I believe you. Even though it sounds like the most ridiculous story ever. Why would you even do that?"

Stiles found himself at a loss for words then. He could use the same excuse that he had told his father; it was a joke. A prank that the pranked didn't find funny after all. But he knew that Ella would see through that lie.

"We thought he was killing people." Stiles told in the end and watched as his sister blinked in surprise. And blinked again. And again. Several seconds passed by where it looked as if she wasn't even breathing.

"You thought," Ella began slowly and then paused as if she was finding it hard to form the words, "that one of your classmates was killing people. So instead of calling the police, our _father_ , you decided to kidnap and lock him in a van?"

Stiles nodded in confirmation, but remained silent. He knew his sister and she still had more to say. And she hated being interrupted.

"I'm guessing Scott was in on this as well?"

"Scott? Nooo, he would never. Well, except for that one time. Yeah, he helped."

Ella deadpanned at Stiles' bad attempt to be witty and her eyes followed his hands as he reached over to take one of her fries. He hesitated just before putting it into his mouth as he seemed to realize what he had done, but ate it anyway.

"I know that you have your reasons for doing it. And while I doubt their validity, I'm not going to question them further right now, because I might just start yelling. I do however want to know who you thought was running around and killing people."

Ella's voice was calm as she spoke. Almost too calm. Like when their mother would be angry with them, but didn't want to shout because she might not stop again. Then you knew it was bad.

"Jackson." Stiles told after a long moment of silence and Ella's jaw literally dropped.

"The guy who just rose from the dead? That Jackson?"

"Yeah. But, you know, the funny thing is-"

Stiles interrupted himself, when Ella sent him a glare that should have killed him on the spot. So maybe she didn't actually find any of it funny.

"The important thing is," Stiles started over and Ella's gaze softened a bit, "that we actually were right. Not about Jackson obviously, but one of our classmates was killing people. And something must have been up with Jackson since he could just come back to life, you know."

Stiles knew he was pushing it by telling her to be apprehensive of Jackson. He was essentially telling her that something strange was going on in Beacon Hills, which Ella already suspected.

But he also knew that she would never be able to solve the puzzle with so many missing pieces. And telling her that there was something weird about Jackson wasn't exactly a big help. But somehow it felt like it lessened the burden of keeping so many secrets a bit.

"I don't get it, Stiles." Ella breathed, hiding her face in her hands. "When did all these crazy things start to happen?"

She sounded tired. Way more tired than even a college student should. He hated that he did that to her, because he knew it was his fault. Maybe if she knew… She would only drop out of Stanford and come straight home. This was for the best.

"Three months ago." Stiles muttered into his drink as an answer to Ella's question, making sure she couldn't actually hear him.

Exactly three months ago to this date he and Scott had gone into the woods looking for the other half of a body and Peter Hale had bit his best friend, turning him into a werewolf. It was amazing how time flew, when you were constantly worrying about your imminent death.

"What?" Ella asked as she looked up and Stiles didn't miss a beat, when he this time spoke out loud.

"A few months ago. I don't know, Ella. Weird shit just started happening all of a sudden."

"It's like we live on top of a freaking Hellmouth."

"A what?"

"A Hellmouth. You still haven't watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" Ella questioned with a frown and sounded genuinely disappointed in him.

"I'm a seventeen year old virgin, El. I can't afford to watch shows about vampires with my poor reputation. Not if I want to actually have sex anytime soon."

"But I left you my boxset." Ella pouted, ignoring his comment about him having sex.

"You left it at home. It's not like you put it in your will or something."

"Hey, good idea."

They both laughed at that and Stiles was happy they were moving on from their previous conversation.

"So how's the boyfriend?" he then asked with feigned casualness and tried not to look too eager to hear the answer. His sister had been dating some guy for almost a month now and he still knew nothing about him.

"Not a criminal, not cheating on me and not a pothead."

"Okay, but at least tell me his name." Stiles begged as he leaned in over the table, but Ella just smiled and shook her head. "It's like you don't trust me at all."

"Stiles, you accused my last boyfriend of cheating on me and the one before that you got arrested even though he was completely innocent. I really like this guy and I will not give you his name so you can go do your research and tell me everything there is to know about him before he does so himself."

"But I was right about Dick, remember? He was cheating on you." Stiles argued and realized he sounded way too smug about it, when Ella violently stabbed her fork into her food.

"His name was Richard, not Dick, and yes, he cheated on me, but maybe I didn't need my _little brother_ to reveal that to me." Ella spoke through her teeth and Stiles shrunk back into his seat. "And what about Oliver?"

"Yeah, that was my bad." Stiles winced and rubbed his neck, feeling guilty.

Stiles had met his sister's ex-boyfriend one time during a visit at Stanford and had immediately decided he didn't like the guy. So he had gone home and found everything he could about the guy on the internet.

In the end he had become certain that Oliver was part of some larger criminal organization in San Francisco and had managed to alert the SFPD. As it turned out it was another Oliver Turner they were looking for, which the police only figured out after three hours of interrogation.

Somehow Ella had known Stiles was behind it and didn't talk to him for about a week after despite his many calls.

She later admitted that she was going to break up with Oliver anyway, but would have been grateful if the conversation didn't have to start with the words "so my brother falsely accused you of being part of a gang and got you arrested".

"So… do I get to meet him at your graduation?" Stiles tried carefully, when his sister seemed to have calmed down a bit and Ella watched him for a long moment through narrowed eyes.

"If you promise not to accuse him of murder or anything like it."

"And what if he _is_ a murderer?"

"Then I guess I will be dead before my graduation and I won't have to worry about it."

"Please tell me his name." Stiles practically whined and leaned in over the table once more, almost tipping over both his and Ella's glasses with his movements.

"No."

"But what if-"

"No."

"Fine, but if he decides to kill me instead, I will come back and haunt your ass."

"I look forward to it. Although I thought it would be Scott's ass." Ella said and fought hard to keep a straight face as Stiles deadpanned while a light blush colored his cheeks.

She knew her brother wasn't gay – though, maybe leaning a bit towards bisexual – but loved to poke fun at his close relationship with Scott. She considered it payback for all the times he had embarrassed her and kept doing so.

"That is the most unfunny thing I have ever heard."

* * *

Ella arrived back at her dorm room at 2 PM the next day, walked straight to her bed and fell asleep. She didn't have classes until the next day and after what felt like a weekend with minimal rest, she just wanted to sleep until then.

If her father knew how tired she had been, he probably would have ordered her to take the train. Which really would have been an overreaction considering Ella knew herself well enough to know when she was, or was not, too tired to drive.

It was those pesky nightmares that kept her up at night, only becoming seemingly more life-like the more time she spent in Beacon Hills. Luckily, she neither talked or walked in her sleep, unlike Stiles, and had managed to not wake the others, when she woke in the middle of the night covered in sweat.

Ella was awoken an hour later by her phone's loud ringing and groaned in annoyance before picking it up. She didn't bother looking at who was calling her.

"Hello?" she spoke with a groggy voice and seriously hoped that it wasn't some important call that she was about to mess up.

"Hi, El."

It was her boyfriend. He had already seen the less refined sides of her, so Ella didn't bother hiding the sleep in her voice and closed her eyes as she talked to him.

The hard mattress underneath her, which came with the dorm room and had probably seen some shit (not literally, Ella sincerely hoped), felt unfairly soft and sleep-inducing at the moment.

"Hey."

"Did I wake you?" he asked and managed to sound both amused and apologetic at the same time.

"Yeah, no, it's fine."

"I just wanted to make sure you survived your drive home, but you should go back to sleep. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"I'm not that bad at driving." Ella protested weakly and earned a laugh at that. So maybe she wasn't the best driver in the world, but she was good enough not to crash or, you know, kill people.

"Bye, Ella."

"Bye."

She fell asleep again immediately after that and didn't wake until the sun had gone down, and her annoying roommate, Michela, had come back.

It wasn't that Michela was a bad roommate; she just had a personality that had started grating on Ella's nerves only two months into their time as co-habitants. Luckily, they didn't see much of each other as Michela spent most of her time at her girlfriend's place.

Ella did her best to just ignore the other brunette as she reluctantly got up to take a shower before eating cup noodles for dinner and going over her notes for the next day's lecture.

Being a teacher's assistant sometimes felt like harder work than what it was worth on her CV, but she needed the money if she ever wanted to get rid of her student debt. At least she had a partial scholarship that made the burden a little easier.

The teacher had called in sick the day before and had asked Ella to do the lecture he had already prepared. It was not something she had done before but, they were too close to the exams to postpone it.

Ella really didn't feel like teaching a whole class of freshmen, some of them older than her, about New Historicism, but she didn't have much of a choice.

At least she had taken good notes during her own freshman year and partially remembered what the literary theory was about. And she had her teacher's full manuscript and presentation. So all she really had to do was convince the students that she had some authority and read from the script.

They were (somewhat) adults, she was an adult. It would probably be easier than those few times she had to teach a sophomore class at a local high school in English during her internship. They had almost scared her away from ever teaching again.

* * *

Ella survived her appearance as guest teacher and went to her own classes. It was getting closer now, graduation. It was almost palpable among the senior students that they were only a couple of months away from freedom.

And the soul-crushing responsibility to find a job as soon as they had thrown their caps into the air.

But time flew by and soon her father called to tell when he and Stiles were coming for her graduation.

Beacon Hills had been quiet since she had gone back to Stanford, but she still worried. Especially since two kids from Stiles' year had been reported missing and were yet to be found.

And maybe she was imagining it, but Ella still detected some tension between father and son every time she spoke with either over the phone. Their father might have gotten his job back after Stiles' little stunt, but there was still something there, wedged between them.

Thus she decided to leave San Francisco and go home to her family after she graduated. Her initial plan had been to stay and find an apartment and thereafter a job in the city, but now she felt needed elsewhere – even though none of them would admit it.

So Ella broke up with her boyfriend two weeks before her graduation. She really didn't want to because she was quite possibly in love with him and had been tempted to agree to his suggestion of a long distance relationship.

But she didn't think it fair to him. She needed to focus on her family, getting a job and figuring out what the hell was going on in her hometown. Sadly, that didn't leave much time for a boyfriend.

He understood and their break-up had been as unmessy and civil as a break-up could be. Discounting the loud sex they had had one last time up against a wall in his apartment. Ella didn't cry until she was back in her own room.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Stiles asked as the very first thing, when he and their father arrived at the graduation ceremony, and studied the crowd as if he actually would be able to recognize the guy.

"We broke up."

"Why?"

Ella glared at him for a moment while their father shook his head and Stiles had the curtesy to look guilty at his abrasiveness.

"Because I am moving back home and he has a life here." Ella explained and smiled at her father as he squeezed her shoulder in comfort.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I looked forward to meeting him."

"Yeah. You probably even would have liked him."

Her father knew just about as little as Stiles did about him, because she didn't really trust him either when it came to her boyfriends. He was nowhere near as bad as Stiles, but he rarely seemed to like any of them either.

Not that she had had _that_ many boyfriends. Six relationships that had lasted over three months since her freshman year in high school, some of them more serious than others, and a few flings here and there. Ella was a grown woman and could very well sleep and/or date whoever she liked.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked in concern when he noticed the sad look in her eyes, placing his hand on her shoulder, but Ella quickly hid it behind a smile and nodded.

"You've grown your hair out." she noted and all three of the Stilinskis knew that she was deflecting, but let it go.

"Yeah."

"I like it." Ella said and reached up to calm her fingers through it. Stiles purred jokingly at her caress and she removed her hand with a roll of her eyes.

"Come on, you two. Ella better get her diploma so she can actually get a job, or I might have to fill out the position as janitor at the school to feed both of you."

Both the Stilinski children rolled their eyes at that, but followed their father anyway. They didn't get their tendency to overdramatize from strangers.

* * *

Leaving college and moving back home hadn't been easy for Ella. Not only was the change of her daily routine and the feeling that she was slightly losing her independence by once again living under the same roof as her father, but she was also leaving some of the best friends she had ever had behind.

Mary and Ella had been study buddies for almost all of their four years at Stanford, and she knew she was going to miss the energetic blonde the most. Mary Parker was a year older than her and came from a conservative family, which she didn't have the best relationship with considering Mary's sexual orientation.

The blonde hadn't come out to neither Ella nor her family until sophomore year, and had Mary not been at Stanford through a scholarship, she probably would have been forced to drop out after her parents heard the news. They were not happy.

But Ella had supported her in any way she could and their friendship had grown stronger. She also worked hard to make Helena feel included, when Mary started dating her a couple of months later.

In their group of friends was also the trust fund kid, Tyler, who loved spending his (parents') money taking them places they couldn't afford and buying them expensive birthday gifts despite their protests. With him came his best friends, Raoul and Jenny.

After their initial almost hour long interrogation – they knew about Ella's track record of bad boyfriends intimately – her now ex-boyfriend had been welcomed with open arms into the group as well.

They were all sad, when she told them about the break-up. She was pretty sure Tyler was still in contact with him, but it didn't bother her. She wouldn't be seeing much of them anyway now that she had moved back to Beacon Hills.

By the end of her first week home Ella felt so depressed that she coaxed Stiles and Scott, who were coincidentally hanging out in Stiles' room that night, to get drunk with her.

She knew it was a bad idea letting two underage boys, including the sheriff's son, drink, and irresponsible of her as an older sister, but she needed the company badly and their father wasn't home anyway. Plus it was all done within the confines of their own home. No one would know.

Drunkenly, Ella had facetimed all of her college friends, but only Mary and Helena had picked up. They had talked for about half an hour with her friends laughing at her most of the time, while Stiles moaned about nothing and everything in the background.

Scott didn't seem drunk at all despite having taken several shots of some sour green liquid with them. The alcohol was something Ella had just randomly picked out down at the liquor store, when she first got the idea to get drunk.

She didn't call her ex, but instead spent an hour talking to Scott about Allison, while Stiles fell asleep on the sofa. At eleven o'clock Scott helped her drag Stiles upstairs to his bed – he was surprisingly strong – and Ella went to sleep as well after Scott had left.

The next morning she woke up with a bad hangover and the sheriff just shook his head, when she appeared in the kitchen; arguing that it was better Stiles learned to drink at home than going out and doing something stupid. As if he had never gotten drunk before.

Her father suggested that doing something productive, like getting a job, might help her settle back into her own home and a new daily routine. Which led her to sending an application for a position at Beacon Hills High School.

The principal called her in for an interview a couple of days later. Only to reject her, apparently.

"I'm sorry, Miss Stilinski, but I can't offer you a job. With all the vandalism that has taken place here within the last few months, it simply isn't in our budget to hire more teachers than what is strictly needed."

The principal of Beacon Hills High School sounded genuinely regretful that he had to reject her application and Ella let out a long sigh.

She had counted her lucky stars that it hadn't been the old (and scary) principal sitting behind the desk, when she arrived. According to Stiles he had been hit by some strange illness that had now put him in hospice care.

But that didn't matter much, when she couldn't even get a job from _her_ old principal.

"What about an internship?" Ella suggested hopefully and Principal Thomas frowned in confusion; the wrinkle on his forehead deepening considerably.

"An internship?"

"Unpaid, of course. I just really need the experience."

It was by far ideal that Ella wouldn't get paid considering the student debts she still had to pay off and that she was paying rent to her father for living at home. He had rejected the idea at first, but Ella insisted.

(Although this way she could keep an eye on Stiles even though he definitely wouldn't like it.)

She had taken a job at the local coffee shop that she used to work in as a teenager and which was now owned by one of her old classmates. Ophelia Lite hadn't applied to any colleges and when grandmother died two years after her high school graduation, she had inherited the small coffee shop.

Ella had lost touch with Ophelia during her years at Stanford, but the blonde had offered her a job the minute she mentioned she was looking for one and Ella had gratefully accepted.

But with her salary from the coffee shop alone it would take her decades to pay off any sort of debt. And she hadn't spent four years on getting her degree just to make coffee for grumpy customers.

"Like a TA?" Principal Thomas questioned as he looked through her papers once more.

"Exactly. Or a substitute, when you need one."

"It is not something we have done before, but maybe it is not a bad idea. Your subject is English, yes?"

"Yes." Ella replied quickly and found it hard not to smile in excitement. "I also used to be in the book and glee club, so I can help there as well if you need it."

"We just hired a new English teacher, who would probably benefit from some help from someone who knows the school."

"I would be more than happy to help." Ella assured the principal and he smiled at her eagerness.

"Tell you what, Miss Stilinski. I will think about it and see how it fits into the schedules."

Ella nodded and stood up with her hand stretched towards the principal. He took her hand with a smile and shook it, sealing their deal.

"Thank you so much."

"Of course. I'll be in touch."

Ella's steps were light as she left the office, feeling happy that she was a little closer to getting what she had spent four hard years working for.

Principal Thomas called her a week later to tell her that she got the job, but it would be unpaid unless she was called in to substitute for an absent teacher.

She would be assisting the new English teacher, Jennifer Blake, for one semester and then they would take another look at her contract. The job included other responsibilities as well, but they would discuss that later.

"Hey, Stiles!" Ella called from inside her room to her brother, who was on the other side of the wall. "What would you feel about me becoming your teacher?"

"Like I had entered my own personal hell."

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

"What?" Stiles yelled as he couldn't hear exactly what she was saying, but Ella was sure she heard Scott laugh.

"Welcome to hell!"

* * *

It was a quiet day in the coffee shop even though the schools' summer break had just begun, which usually meant an increase in revenue among the younger demographic. But even the morning rush hadn't been very rush-y.

Therefore Ella found herself spending the slow hours of her eight hour shift by annoying her boss.

"Oh, my fair Ophelia! Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Ella sang out loud as she cleaned the espresso machine.

She had her back to the register as the shop was practically empty and no new customers had entered within the last twenty minutes. It was a hot summer's day and it didn't seem like many thought coffee was the way to get through it.

"I'd rather you not!" Ophelia called from inside the small cooler in the back room, where she was busy taking stock of their supplies.

The blonde shook her head at Ella's antics, but couldn't help but smile to herself. She noted on a piece of paper how many cartons of milk they had left and how many she had to order for the next few days.

Ophelia had tried to escape Ella's boredom, but it hadn't really worked since the brunette had just raised her voice. And the two customers sat in the shop didn't seem bothered by the fact that she was loudly citing every Shakespeare quote she could remember.

Ella found quotes from _Hamlet_ the most entertaining considering that her friend had been named after one of the characters. Ophelia had always hated that fact about herself, but was secretly amused by Ella's declarations of eternal love.

Ophelia went into the kitchen and wrote down the last things she had to do before the day was over; wash the floors, change their usual order for the local bakery, go over this month's budget and look through the job applications she had received within the last few days after she had put up a "help needed" sign by the door.

It wasn't easy having your own business, albeit a small one, but she enjoyed it most of the time. It didn't leave her much time for a private life though. Or more specifically: a love life.

She had been popular among the boys in high school with her curly, blonde hair, long legs and blue eyes. She had even been nominated for prom queen, but lost to Tara Michaelson and her D-cup breasts.

Ophelia wasn't bitter about that at all.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire, doubt that the sun doth move." Ella began again and gestured dramatically with her hands.

Ophelia returned from the kitchen with a batch of blueberry muffins, shaking her head at Ella's antics. She almost dropped the muffins, when she saw who was waiting by the register, but Ella hadn't noticed him yet and continued undeterred.

"Doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt I love." she finished loudly and grinned at her friend, expecting to see Ophelia rolling her eyes.

Instead her face had turned red in her attempt to hold back her laughter. Ella opened her mouth to ask what she suddenly found so funny, but was interrupted by a deep voice coming from behind her.

"Shakespeare, right?"

Ella spun around so quickly that she almost lost her balance and came face to face with a very attractive man, who was looking at her with half a smile. Like he was amused by her display, but not quite enough to actually give her a full smile.

"Yeah." Ella replied with a nod as she moved over to the register and she felt a deep blush creep up her neck.

She knew that she should stop herself, but Ella couldn't keep from staring at the man. For one he was pretty damn hot, but there also something very familiar about him.

He stood tall in front of her, maybe 6 feet, and Ella couldn't decide if it was his broad shoulders or just his mere presence that made it feel as if he was looming over her.

As she continued to just stare he folded his arms in front of him and his biceps stretched the sleeves of his Henley. The half-smile he had worn fell and his chiseled jaw tightened impatiently.

Ella's lips parted in surprised, when she finally recognized him. She remembered those pale green eyes and dark hair; the only things about him that hadn't changed since she had last seen him about six years ago.

"Derek Hale." she spoke without thinking and he raised an eyebrow, signaling that he had no idea who she was.

"Do I know you?"

"We went to high school together. You were two years above me." Ella reminded him, but it clearly didn't trigger his memory since he continued to look completely blank. "Ella Stilinski?"

" _You're_ Stiles' older sister?" Derek asked and Ella didn't know whether to take that as an insult against Stiles or a compliment to herself.

"I am."

The giddy school girl inside her, that had made her stomach flutter slightly at the sight of Derek Hale and all his attractiveness, now crept back to where she came from and the protective older sister announced her presence.

She remembered the rumors circulating about Derek when he arrived back in town a few months ago and how he had been arrested for the murder of his own sister; one half of her found by the police, the other half, to no one's surprise, by Scott and Stiles.

If Ella remembered correctly it all seemed to have started with that body. With Derek's sister. As it turned out he didn't kill her and the other accusations that came along the way were disproven as well.

"How do you know my brother?" Ella questioned and interrupted her own train of thought that wasn't really leading to anywhere except unfounded suspicion against Derek.

"I know Scott." was all Derek offered as answer and Ella studied him through narrowed eyes.

"How?"

"I don't think that's any of your business." Derek said as he unfolded his arms and leaned slightly over the counter.

Ella defiantly did the same. He easily intimidated her, but she wasn't going to let him see that.

"But Stiles very much is and therefore so is Scott. Since you apparently know them that should be fairly obvious to you."

"I'm helping him with his lacrosse training."

"Bullshit." Ella replied bluntly and sent him a glare that made him lean in further with his hands on the counter.

"Excuse me?" Derek practically growled, but Ella didn't flinch away and leaned closer as well.

"I would know if Scott had some sort of personal trainer. So what I would like to know is why a grown-ass man, such as yourself, is hanging around two teenage boys."

Ella wasn't exactly sure why she suddenly felt such a strong dislike of Derek, considering her crush on him when she was a sophomore and the fact that he hadn't really done anything. Except for knowing her brother.

People insulting Stiles bothered her, of course, but rarely enough to get her this mad. And it hadn't even been an outright insult. But something about Derek triggered her protective instincts.

"Okay, let's just take a step back and calm down." Ophelia spoke calmly and gently pushed Ella out of the way.

She had no idea why things were so tense between them, but wasn't going to let them start a fight in her shop. Ophelia noticed how Derek seemed to be breathing a little heavier than before and sent him her best smile, making her eyes light up.

She knew her assets and wasn't afraid to use them. It seemed to work as Derek leaned back and his body seemed to lose some tension.

"I'm sorry, what can I do for you?" Ophelia asked him and briefly wondered if he had any memory of her or if he had forgotten her like he had Ella.

She had seen Derek a few times around town the last months, but hadn't spoken with him till now. After all, he was tall, dark and handsome; all three things that spelled trouble.

"I just wanted to ask if I could put these up by the door." Derek spoke in a more calm voice than the one he had used when talking to Ella and met her gaze, making a warm feeling spread in Ophelia's stomach.

She barely managed to stop herself from running her hand over the braid that hung over her right shoulder. She could not flirt with Derek Hale.

Ophelia was distracted by her own thoughts, when Derek produced two pieces of paper from his pocket and placed them on the counter.

Ella looked over Ophelia's shoulder and felt bad as soon as she recognized the missing teenagers from Stiles' year, whose pictures had been printed on the papers.

"Of course. Let me find you some tape." Ophelia said and turned towards Ella with a look that told her not to argue. "Ella, come help me."

She left for the back room without waiting for an answer. Ella stayed for another few seconds to look at the posters and then at Derek, who stared back at her, visibly less annoyed. Ophelia's charm had definitely worked on him.

Ella almost opened her mouth to ask about his relationship with Boyd and Erica, the missing kids, but decided against it and followed Ophelia instead.

"You do know that we have tape under the counter, right?" Ella asked as soon as she was out of Derek's earshot and was met by the stern gaze of her friend, who stood with her arms crossed.

"What the hell was that about?" the blonde exclaimed in a hushed voice and her expressive eyes showed her confusion.

"He was being rude!" Ella argued with a hand gesture towards Derek and tried hard to keep her voice down.

"No, he wasn't! You were."

"He insulted my brother."

"So he was surprised that you were related to the dork. Big deal. I love your brother, but we both know he has a way of getting on people's nerves. And I'm pretty sure it was more a compliment to you than an insult to Stiles."

"Okay, but how does he even know my brother? He's an adult, so why is he hanging around teenage kids?"

"How should I know? He's Derek Hale. He could ask me if he could lick my toes and I would probably let him." Ophelia said with a shrug and Ella made a grimace in disgust.

"First of all, ew. And secondly, being 'Derek Hale' doesn't mean he isn't a potential creep."

"He's not a creep. How could someone with such a face be a creep? Stiles gets up to all kinds of shit with Scott, so maybe they've somehow crossed paths. Just let it go, Ella." Ophelia urged her and Ella reluctantly agreed with a long sigh.

No matter how long and hard she tried she probably couldn't get a proper answer from Derek anyway.

"By the way, didn't you make-out with him once at a party in high school? You wouldn't stop talking about how weird it had been for like a week after." her blonde friend added with a sly smile and Ella scowled at the reminder.

Yes, she had made out with Derek fucking Hale once, when she was a sophomore. She had been a little too drunk at a party and had found a vacant balcony on the second floor, so she could get some air.

Derek had appeared out of seemingly nowhere with a strange look in his eyes. They had exchanged a minimal amount of words and before Ella knew what was happening, they were kissing.

And not just a peck on the lips, but a full on make-out with tongue and everything.

He had pressed her against the railing and practically growled into the crook of her neck, when her hands had wandered underneath his shirt. It had been weird and awesome. Ella was drunk, it was Derek Hale and he was willingly kissing her.

But then he had stepped away and left without another word. Ella had remained on the balcony for several minutes, breathing heavily as she tried to understand what had just happened.

Derek seemed to have forgotten all about it the next time they ran into each other in the school hallways and Ella had attributed it to some kind of strange moon sickness since it had been a full moon that night.

"That was six years ago. What does that have to do with anything?" Ella said when the look in Ophelia's eyes told her she wanted an answer.

"Nothing. Something. Maybe all that tension out there was sexual." Ophelia teased, her eyes shining with mirth, and Ella stared at her friend blankly.

"You're the one, who wants him to lick your toes."

"I didn't say I wanted him to, but I wouldn't say no if he asked." Ophelia objected with a pointed finger, grabbed the tape they had left to find from the shelf beside her and left the room.

Ella didn't see any more of Derek Hale until over a month later, when she finally found out how he knew her brother.

* * *

 **So this was really just a filler chapter to get to the events of season 3.**

 **I'm not an expert on the American education system or how the whole teacher's assistant thing works, but I tried. There probably will be some factual mistakes here and there, but I don't think they matter much in the broad perspective of the story. And my apologies if I get the geography wrong at times. I'm trying, I really am.**

 **Ophelia will have more appearances as the story goes on, but will mostly just have a subplot of her own. And of course, I can picture her as no one else than the wonderful Candice King, because she's literally sunshine in human form.**

 **Favourite, follow and review - my heart grows a size bigger every time.**


	4. Something wicked this way comes

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
_ _Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _"_ _By the pricking of my thumbs,  
Something wicked this way comes."_

William Shakespeare, _Macbeth_

* * *

Ella's summer went by uneventfully. While the two teenagers were still missing, no strange deaths or happenings took place in Beacon Hills.

Her family seemed mended as well and Ella had elected to forget the fact that Stiles had gotten their father fired. John Stilinski was once again the sheriff after all and everything seemed to be back to normal.

Her new position as a TA at the high school meant that she had spent parts of the summer helping the English teacher, Miss Blake, preparing for the coming semester.

Ella was yet to meet the woman, but she liked her already based on the emails they had exchanged. She seemed competent and genuinely enthusiastic about her job.

"Stiles! You up?" Ella called from her own room as she prepared to leave for her first day of work at Beacon Hills High School.

It was an old habit from before she went off to Stanford to always check if her brother had awoken yet since classes started in thirty minutes.

Stiles tended to sleep until the last possible moment so he had to run around to get ready in time, leaving a mess of clothes and dirty dishes in his wake.

Ella rolled her eyes when she didn't get an answer, but was surprised to find her brother awake and by his computer, when she paused in the doorway to his room.

For a moment she worried he had spent the whole night there, but he looked both clean and fairly well-rested. He was also wearing different clothes than from the night before.

Or at least he was wearing a different plaid shirt since those were all he ever wore. Ella wasn't sure when that fashion choice had been taking, but felt like she should have been there to stop him.

"What are you doing?"

Stiles barely looked up to acknowledge he had heard her question, but Ella waited patiently for him to answer.

"You know how that deer ran into Lydia's car last night?"

Ella nodded even though her brother wasn't looking at her since they both knew that she knew. Stiles had been the one to tell her after all.

He had returned home from wherever he had been with Scott, looking beside himself and as if his brain was working harder than usual. Which was quite a feat.

He had then given her a second by second description of what had happened, which had left Ella just as confused. As far as she knew, deer didn't just run into parked cars.

"Last year there were two-hundred and forty-seven thousand vehicle collisions that involved deer, but almost no cases of deer just running straight into parked cars." Stiles informed her and finally lifted his eyes from the screen.

Ella wasn't sure whether to placate him or tell him to let it go since it was probably nothing. She wrote it off as him being worried about Lydia.

No progress seemed to have been made between the two, even though Jackson apparently had moved away to London. But they were friends at least and Stiles no longer made (as much of) a fool out of himself, when they talked.

Ella had spent a surprising amount of time around Lydia during the summer, who kept visiting the coffee shop whenever she was bored. Which was a lot since her best friend, Allison, whom Ella was yet to meet, had been in France for the last four months. Ella hadn't said anything about how weird that was.

But as a result she had somehow become friends with the girl and shipped her brother with Lydia more than ever. She also knew them both well enough to know that they would be good together. Or at least until Stiles managed to drive her crazy.

Lydia, though, still seemed to be a little too caught up in what people thought about her and dating someone like Stiles would not be good for her reputation.

And for his part, Stiles needed to grow up and stop running around after her like a lost puppy. He had been crushing on her for so long without really knowing her, but now that they were actually friends it would hopefully turn into something more real.

Something that went beyond "strawberry blonde, 5'3 and green eyes".

"Hey, do you know anyone from Stanford who's like a deer expert?" Stiles questioned, when Ella didn't comment on the deer collision statistics.

Ella blinked in surprise at Stiles' question and felt like she had missed a part of the conversation while she had been in her own thoughts.

"Sure. My best friend, Beatrice, just wrote a dissertation about deer related vehicle collisions."

"Really?"

"No. Why would I know anyone who's an expert in deer?"

"Then why would you even say that?"

"Why would you ask such a stupid question?"

"Who's Beatrice?"

"How should I know?"

They stared at each other for a long moment until Stiles rolled his eyes and Ella let out a sigh.

"I'm leaving now. Remember class starts in twenty-five minutes." Ella told her brother as he turned his attention back to the screen.

"Have a nice day." Stiles replied with his eyes fixed on a website he had just found about animal psychology.

"Stiles, we'll literally see each other again in twenty minutes. I'm going to help the new English teacher, remember?"

"Right. Good luck."

Ella left the doorway after that and went downstairs to fill up on coffee before she took off. She had to be at the school to meet with Miss Blake at least ten minutes before class started and she was running late.

"Good morning." her father greeted her from the dinner table, where he sat with a cup of coffee and the newspaper. He was already dressed in his uniform. "You look nice."

Ella smiled as she looked down at her blue dress. It was simple with no patterns and a black collar, but she rarely wore dresses so it felt special to her. She had always preferred jeans and shorts over skirts and dresses.

Her long hair sat in a braided crown on top of her head with two locks hanging down in the front, framing her face. Her black suede ankle boots had a block heel and made her two inches taller, which helped her feel a little older among the teenagers.

"Thanks." Ella replied and sat down across from her father, figuring she could spare a couple of minutes to talk to him. "So how's Beacon County's Finest?"

"Good, but in this town you never know when things start getting crazy again. And we're still looking for new deputies to fill the vacant positions." the sheriff told and looked into his cup at the mention of their hiring problem.

After everything that had happened the last year, the rumors about Beacon Hills had spread and no one seemed eager to replace the officers, who had died just staying at their desks.

"I'm sure you'll find someone soon. Who wouldn't want to work with you? You're the world's greatest boss! And sheriff." Ella tried cheering up her father and he smiled lovingly at her attempt to do so.

"I gotta go, dad, or I'll be late for my first day at work." she continued quickly after and gulped down as much as she could of the hot coffee without burning herself. "FYI, you might need to drag Stiles away from his computer if he's going to make it to school in time."

"Copy that. Have a nice day."

"You too."

Ella grabbed her bag and left the kitchen with a wave. She remembered to bring her blazer that hung by the front door before leaving in case her sleeveless dress was too cold.

She parked her car at the school less than ten minutes later and hurried inside. She might have driven a little too fast, but 23 years as the daughter of the sheriff had warped her (and Stiles') mind into thinking that speeding tickets was something other people got.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Miss Blake." Ella immediately apologized, when she entered the teachers' lounge and found the woman waiting for her.

"It's no problem." Jennifer assured her with a smile and Ella exhaled slowly to get her breathing under control after her small run to make it in time. "It's nice to finally meet you properly."

Ella took Jennifer's hand with a smile and shook it gently. The English teacher didn't look to be more than a few years older than Ella. Maybe three or four.

Hopefully, it meant that she wouldn't act like a grumpy old teacher, who had done the same thing for years and didn't like any changes or new ideas.

Jennifer's dark brown hair hung over her shoulders with the front of it pulled away from her face. She was about Ella's height, but wore heels that the younger woman wasn't able to balance herself in, and therefore stood a couple of inches over Ella.

In a dotted button-up shirt and black pencil skirt, Ella felt Jennifer was dressed more professionally than herself. Or at least it made her look older opposite Ella, who had a feeling she looked like one of the high schoolers they were on their way to teach.

"So, Miss Stilinski-"

"Please call me Ella." Ella quickly interrupted, biting her tongue for doing so.

 _Way to be rude._

"And call me Jennifer. 'Miss Blake' makes me feel like a spinster." Jennifer replied with a smile and didn't seem bothered by Ella's interruption.

The both laughed at Jennifer's words and Ella felt far more relaxed than she had been when she entered the room. Jennifer spent a couple of minutes telling what they were going to do for the first class before opening her computer and presenting it to Ella.

"I'm going to send a text to all of the students and it would probably be easier if you read the numbers to me." Jennifer explained when the younger woman looked at her dumbfounded.

Ella looked down at the list on the screen then and found a few familiar names, including Allison's, who was at the top of the list with the last name 'Argent'. She could feel Jennifer watching her expectantly, so she quickly began reciting the numbers.

When the list was done Ella turned her eyes from the computer to Jennifer, who was busy writing the actual text. They both looked at the clock then and realized they had to leave if they wanted to be on time.

"Your brother is in this class, right?" Jennifer asked as they walked quickly through the almost empty halls with Ella leading the way to the class room. "He's the one with the name I can't pronounce."

"You can just call him Stiles. He's named after our mother's father, who came here from Poland, but I think our parents just secretly hate him." Ella told and didn't think about how her words might sound until she finished talking. Jennifer knew nothing about her humor after all.

Luckily, the teacher laughed and then pressed the screen on her phone a few times, sending the text she had prepared, before they stepped inside the class room. Ella heard several phones go off and found it hard not to grin widely as she followed Jennifer inside.

" _The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky – seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness._ "

The students stared at Jennifer silently as she walked into the room while calmly reciting _Heart of Darkness_ , her heels clicking against the floor, and they barely noticed the small woman following her.

"This is the last line to the first book we're going to read." Jennifer told the stunned class and leaned against the front of her desk. "It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."

Ella remained by the door just inside the room in an attempt to keep the attention off her. She found Stiles, Lydia and Scott all sitting in a middle row beside each other. She smiled when Lydia caught her gaze and waved.

Ella guessed the beautiful brunette in front of Scott to be Allison Argent. Her brown hair, resting on her shoulders, looked shorter than in the picture Scott had shown Ella and curled in a way she could only be envious of. The girl's long, slim body made her look tall even sitting down.

Their eyes met a brief couple of seconds before Ella turned her attention to Jennifer, who had started speaking.

"My name is Jennifer Blake. I was hired to work here just before the summer started, which means I am not yet familiar with everything around here, but luckily I have our new TA to help me. Ella, would you like to introduce yourself?"

Only a few had noticed Ella as Jennifer introduced herself, but all eyes turned to her, when the teacher gestured towards her. She took a deep breath before she moved to stand beside Jennifer and smiled at the class.

"Hi, I'm Ella Stilinski. I've just graduated from Stanford, but was trapped here at Beacon Hills High School, like you are, before that." Ella told them, which got her a spread laugh from the students and she felt some of the nervous tension leave her body.

"I will primarily be with Miss Blake during this semester, but you will probably see me around the school doing everything except scrubbing the floors. And please ask if you need help with anything. School related, of course. But not math, I suck at math."

More laughed this time and Ella started feeling much more confident. A hand shot up in the back of the room and Ella glanced at Jennifer out of the corner of her eye, who nodded encouragingly.

"Yes?"

"Are you Stiles' sister?" the girl asked and those who hadn't made the connection yet immediately turned to look at her brother.

Ella's eyes found him as well and he was staring back at her with squinted eyes, challenging her to embarrass him in front of his classmates.

"No comment." Ella said after a moment of silence and smiled brightly at her brother as she moved away from the desk and over to the windows opposite the door. He rolled his eyes at her while some of his classmates sniggered.

When they had all quieted down Jennifer began the lesson, and Ella tuned out her voice as she watched the teenagers listen to her introduction of _Heart of Darkness_. She couldn't help but smile, when she noticed Allison slip a note to Scott.

Ella had made, according to Stiles, the mistake of asking about her and Scott had nearly talked her ears off. He was clearly still in love with Allison and Ella hoped he would soon find a chance to be with her again.

Jennifer was interrupted when one of the other teachers entered the room and whispered something to her. Everyone looked at Scott, when she called out his name and they both exited the class room.

Ella frowned when Scott didn't return with Jennifer and looked at Stiles, who just shrugged. The lesson commenced, but everyone seemed a little distracted after the interruption. Ella couldn't help but worry about Scott and glanced at Stiles once more, only to find him whispering to Lydia.

They looked slightly irritated with each other and Stiles' voice rose, when Jennifer paused to write the assigned homework on the blackboard. It sounded like he was talking about the deer again, but for some reason also a dog.

Ella startled when a bird crashed into the window right beside Lydia, leaving a trail of blood as it fell to the ground, and the whole class paused to look outside. She could feel her pulse start to quicken, when she noticed the large flock of crows, which seemed to be flying straight towards them.

Jennifer came to stand beside her and they shared a look as the crows only continued in their trajectory. Ella almost screamed when another bird hit the window with a large thump and instinctively ran towards the nearest students, pulling them to the floor, when the first bird broke through one of the windows.

Chaos broke out inside the classroom as Jennifer screamed for everyone to get down to not get hit by glass and the teenagers all started yelling in panic.

Ella waved with her arms frantically to get the birds off of her and felt how something sharp made contact with her neck and cheek. The stinging feeling made her wince in pain, but she was soon distracted by something else.

Right in front of her Allison was fighting off a crow as well and Ella left the girl hiding underneath her, grabbing a book on a nearby table and used it to hit Allison's attacker.

It fell dead to the ground and an ominous silence filled the room as the same happened to the other crows. Slowly, everyone rose from the ground and Ella glanced around with wide eyes. Some looked worse for wear than others.

She jumped when she felt a thumb softly rub her cheek and turned her head to find Stiles staring at her with shock clear in his brown eyes. Ella couldn't stop herself from grabbing both sides of his head to quickly look him over for any scratches.

"You're okay?" she asked shakenly and let out a sigh of relief, when she found no signs of bird claws on him.

"I'm fine. But you're bleeding."

Ella frowned when he showed her his thumb that now had her smeared blood on it. She was reminded of the brief stings of pain she had felt while fighting off the birds and lifted her hand to her neck.

Because her hair was up they had had access to her skin and Ella withdrew her hand with a considerable amount of blood on her fingers. She wasn't usually sensitive around blood and such, but this made her feel nauseous.

Stiles winced at the sight and was pushed away by Lydia, who slowly spun Ella around to look at the scratch.

"It doesn't look too deep, but you should definitely disinfect it. Your cheek is better, but we have no idea where these birds have been." Lydia noted in a clinical voice and Ella nodded without really comprehending her words.

"Here, use these." Allison spoke from beside Lydia and Ella felt someone starting to clean her neck.

She offered Allison a smile, when the girl stepped into her line of sight with a packet of cleaning wipes and gave Ella one for her hands. Stiles then appeared beside Allison and grabbed a tissue, which he gently started cleaning Ella's cheek with.

"It's okay, Stiles. I can do it myself." she tried telling him, feeling silly that she was being taken care of by three teenagers, when she was supposed to be the grown up, who comforted them.

"You'll just rub it all over yourself and walk around the school looking like a serial killer."

"Done." Lydia said when she finished with Ella's neck and moved to stand in front of her like the other two. "Your hair, though, needs a miracle to look anywhere near decent again."

Ella laughed at that, while Allison rolled her eyes and Stiles glared at Lydia. Her hair probably did need a lot of work to not make it look like a bird's nest. She was pretty sure that there was blood in some of it as well.

"Allison, why didn't you say anything?" Lydia then asked in a stern voice and grabbed the hand of her best friend. There was long, bleeding rift on the back of her right hand.

"It's nothing." Allison shrugged and genuinely sounded as if she hadn't even noticed it. She was a lot tougher than Ella apparently. "Ella saved me from getting hacked into pieces."

Stiles let out a snort at that and all three girls turned to look at him with lifted eyebrows. He looked comically scared, when he noticed them glaring.

"Do you have something to say, little brother?"

"Nope. Definitely not."

He quickly grabbed the bloodied cleaning wipes and backed away from the group, bumping into a desk on his way to the trash can. Stiles didn't return after that.

"We haven't formally met. I'm Ella." Ella told Allison with a smile, when she finished shaking her head at her brother and the girl shook her hand. Ella had a couple of scratches there as well, but they weren't bleeding.

"Allison. Lydia has told me about you, so it's nice to finally meet you."

Ella looked over the brunette's shoulder at Lydia in surprise, but she was busy texting someone on her phone. Ella was pretty sure she had heard it, though, but didn't want to acknowledge it.

"Scott has told me a lot about you too." Ella said without thinking and Lydia suddenly looked very much as if she was listening; shaking her head frantically to make Ella stop talking.

"He has?"

"Oh, I mean, just a little like your name and… stuff."

"Stuff?"

"You know, normal stuff. Friends stuff."

Lydia looked ready to actually scream at her now and Ella felt like melting through the floor just to get away from the stricken look on Allison's face.

"Friends stuff?" Allison asked in confusion and glanced over her shoulder at Lydia, who let her face fall back into a neutral mask with impressive speed and shrugged.

"I'm just gonna stop talking, okay? Sometimes my mouth just works faster than my mind and I say stupid shit like this. Fuck, I mean 'stupid things'." Ella told with a sigh and her eyes widened, when she realized she had said 'shit' since swearing in front of students probably was a bad idea even for a TA.

"I'm just gonna go over there now."

With those words she left Lydia and Allison unceremoniously and went in the other direction of where she had pointed to. Maybe the birds had given her rabies and her brain was starting to melt.

 _Can birds give me rabies? Will I become deadly afraid of water in a couple of minutes?_

Stiles gave her a sarcastic thumbs up, when she passed him and he had obviously heard her failed attempt to backtrack what she had said about Scott to Allison.

Ella thought of Scott then and almost asked her brother about his absence, when another student caught her eye. He looked like he was in shock, staring down at a dead crow on the floor.

She had finally broken the boy out of whatever trance he was in, when her father arrived at the scene along with animal control, a few deputies and two paramedics.

After making sure Ella was okay – Stiles stood beside her, disgruntled by the fact that their father didn't seem as worried about him as he was about his daughter – the sheriff started questioning Jennifer about what had happened.

His deputies took care of the unscathed students and talked to those who still seemed to be in shock. In the meantime animal control cleared the room of the dead birds and bird feathers, and the paramedics took care of the students that had received cuts like Ella had.

Stiles sat on a desk in front of her, as the deep scratch on her neck was being disinfected and bandaged, and stared down at his phone as he told her about other cases of animals going crazy like this. It almost always came before some sort of natural disaster.

He mentioned the deer again and something about a Prada biting Lydia, but Ella wasn't paying attention as she watched a stranger enter the room and walk straight towards Allison and Lydia.

The man looked about her father's age with grey stubbles covering his chin and the expression on his face was grave as he reached Allison and rested his hand on her shoulder. He looked intimidating somehow.

"That's Allison's dad." Stiles informed her – she had already guessed as much – when he noticed that she wasn't listening and followed her gaze to the man.

It seemed strange to Ella that he would come just because of a bird attack.

They both watched as Mr. Argent practically stole what he needed from a nearby medical bag and started cleaning his daughter's cut himself.

She could hear him telling Allison that she should stay home from school the next time she felt like it. That really didn't sound like the best parenting to her. Most teenagers never felt like going to school.

The sheriff suddenly walked in between his children to get to Allison's dad and Ella watched with interest as he asked Mr. Argent for his opinion about the animals' behavior.

Apparently Allison's dad was a hunter, which their father told Argent he had heard from Stiles. Her brother quickly looked down at his phone, when they all turned their heads to look at him.

Ella narrowed her eyes at that, because he clearly looked like he was hiding something, but she couldn't fathom what. Stiles sent their father a strange look, when he finished his conversation with Mr. Argent, looking even more confused than before.

"Come on, I'll take you home." her father said when the paramedic finished cleaning the cut on her cheek as well and almost everyone had left the classroom. Stiles had left as well with the excuse that he had to call Scott.

"Dad, I can't just go home early on my first day."

"You can't teach looking like that either. You'll scare the kids." he pointed out and Ella knew that he was right.

She would only distract the students from learning since they probably all wanted to know about what happened in the junior English class.

"And the principal excused you all for the rest of the day as well. Both you and Miss Blake."

"Oh. But I have my car here."

"Stiles can drive you here tomorrow or I'll drive you if you have a shift at the coffee shop."

Ella wasn't sure why her father was so adamant about driving her home, but decided not to fight him on it. Maybe he was just worried that she'd suddenly go into shock.

Or he saw a connection between the deer and the crows, like his son did, and was afraid her car might be torpedoed by a mountain lion.

"Fine. But let me tell someone I'm leaving and get my bag as well. I'll meet you outside."

Her father nodded at that and Ella left him to go to the teachers' lounge. After getting her bag she went by the principal's office and he told her to stay at home the next day as well if she needed it.

Ella was almost at the main doors, when a woman dressed in a black shirt and slacks appeared in front of her, looking out of breath. She didn't look like a student, being in her mid-twenties, and out of place with an urgent look in her dark eyes.

"Ella Stilinski, right?" the woman asked as her eyes darted across the hall and she seemed to study every student intently. "Where's Scott McCall?"

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Ella questioned in return and caught the woman's gaze momentarily before she turned them back to the students around them.

"Do you know where Scott McCall is?"

"No."

The woman left then without another word and Ella stared after her as she disappeared down the hall. She thought about whether she should call security, but she wasn't sure what to tell them. And Scott wasn't at the school for the woman to find either way.

"Do you mind going somewhere with me before I take you home?" her father asked as Ella got into the police car and she shook her head in response.

She was about to tell her father about the strange woman at the school, but didn't know what to tell him exactly.

" _A woman came asking for Scott at the school. Why you ask? I don't know. Was there something suspicious about her? Maybe. How? She was asking about Scott. Does Scott know her? I don't know. Why am I telling you this? Good question._ "

Ella frowned at the conversation she had just had inside her head and decided to keep the information to herself. She would tell Scott – or Stiles – instead when she saw him next.

They arrived at the local animal clinic, where she knew Scott worked, ten minutes later and was greeted by Dr. Deaton inside. Ella hadn't met the man before and quickly introduced herself before her father started telling him about what had happened at the school.

"I'm guessing it was the birds that did that to you." Deaton noted as he gestured with his eyes towards the cut on Ella's cheek. She nodded in confirmation.

"We've had fifteen calls in the past hour." the sheriff continued and the veterinarian studied Ella for a few seconds longer before turning his eyes back to her father.

"I've got a suicidal deer, birds flying through windows, pets behaving aggressively. I gotta tell ya, I'm starting to think there's something in the water."

Ella frowned at her father's theory, knowing that he wasn't being completely serious, but didn't have a better explanation herself. She looked at Deaton, who was watching her father thoughtfully.

"To be honest, I was going to give you a call about an incident of my own." the doctor then said and the sheriff shared a confused look with his daughter before they followed Deaton further inside the clinic.

"At first I thought I might have had a break-in. Some sick individual looking to release some particularly violent impulse." Deaton explained as he led them to a closed door with a sign reading 'Cat Clinic'. "Until I got a closer look and realized what'd actually happened."

At first Ella couldn't see anything, when Deaton opened the door, as the men's bodies hid the room from her view, but she felt her stomach churn at the dead silence. Those cats should at least be meowing.

"They did it to themselves."

Ella gasped loudly, when Deaton took a step back to give her space, and felt like vomiting when she saw the mutilated cats lying inside their cages. Blood was splattered across the floor and she had to turn away from the sight. Her father had frozen in the doorway, looking just as horrified as she felt.

"What could have made them do something like this?" the sheriff finally asked and Deaton closed the door after them as they all stepped back.

"I'm not sure. Usually animals will start behaving erratically, when they sense natural disasters like earthquakes coming, but I have never seen anything quite like this." Deaton replied calmly and led them back to the front desk.

Ella was starting to feel slightly lightheaded and sat down in one of the chairs that were usually reserved for waiting clients. First the deer, then the birds and now the cats.

She had always been more of a dog person, but seeing the dead kittens broke her heart. They had been someone's beloved pet. How did you explain to someone that their cat had somehow committed suicide?

"Ella, are you okay?" her father asked with a hand on her back as she held her head between her legs to stop the room from spinning.

"Yeah, I just need some air. I'll wait for you outside."

She didn't say goodbye to the veterinarian as she left the clinic. She didn't really understand how he could be so calm about the whole thing, but maybe he was just better at hiding his panic.

"I can't believe Stiles was right." Ella spoke when they were finally back in the car on their way home.

"About what?"

"The deer. He was so sure that it wasn't just a strange coincidence that it ran straight into Lydia's car, and now all of this is happening. He was right."

"He usually is." her father commented dryly and Ella couldn't help but smile a little. He usually was and it was infuriating most of the time.

"Do you ever feel like Stiles knows just a little more than the rest of us?" she asked after a long moment of silence between them and the sheriff let out a long sigh.

"All the time, kiddo. All the time."

* * *

"Why do you look so pale?" Ella asked when her brother returned home a few hours later.

She was sitting at her desk in her room, when Stiles appeared and fell unto her bed.

Ella was still a little shaken from everything that had happened that day, but she had occupied her mind by going into Stiles-mode and finding everything she could about animals behaving strangely. She hadn't come up with much.

"I always look pale."

"I know, but right now you look especially pale."

"Scott got a tattoo." Stiles groaned and looked uneasy by the simple memory of it. Ella smiled; she knew how much he hated needles.

"Really?"

Six months ago those news would have surprised her a lot more than they did now. Scott had changed a lot over the last few months; becoming even more broad-shouldered than he had been at the lacrosse game four months ago, buying a dirt bike and now he had a tattoo as well.

Scott McCall was growing up and it was weird.

"What does it look like?"

"It's like two bands around his arm." Stiles shrugged and didn't seem very impressed with the fact that his best friend had chosen to mark himself for life.

"Why?" Ella questioned curiously, thinking that it had to have some meaning for Scott at least.

Her hand automatically lifted to touch the back of her neck, where she had her own mark. Not the one the crows had given her, but the tattoo she had gotten as soon as she was legally allowed.

 _Be strong._

It was the last words her mother had told her before she died.

Ella and Stiles had been at the hospital most of the day, just sitting around while their mother slept. Stiles had gone to the bathroom and Claudia had awoken. Her mother hadn't been able to say much, but she had managed to tell Ella goodbye.

" _Take care of your brother and father for me, will you? My sweet, beautiful Ella. I love you. Be strong._ "

Stiles had returned and Ella had left the room with tears in her eyes to get her mother some water. When she returned Stiles was sitting outside the room crying and the doctors were trying to revive their mother. Water had spilled across the linoleum floor as her hands grew numb.

"Something about it being a reward for not talking to Allison all summer." Stiles said and Ella blinked as she was pulled out of the sad memory.

"How are they by the way?"

"Awkward."

"I sensed that. I don't think my word vomit helped."

"You don't say."

"Did you want something or?" Ella asked with her arms crossed in front of her and spun her chair around to face Stiles completely.

"Are you okay?"

Her brother looked worried as he sat up in her bed and studied her to find any sign that she was not. It didn't feel right for him to be worried about _her_. It was her job to be worried about _him_.

"I'll admit that today was fucked up, but I'm okay, I promise."

Her nightmares would probably return worse than ever, but she could always take the next day off like the principal told her to do. Luckily, she hadn't had many restless nights since she had returned home, but she had a bad feeling that was about to be over.

"What about you?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Stiles, why do I feel like this is just the beginning?" Ella asked quietly and calmed her fingers through her damp hair. She had washed it twice to get rid of all evidence of the bird attack.

"The beginning of what?"

"I don't know. It's just a feeling. Like something is coming. Or is already here."

She couldn't explain it in any way that made sense. Putting it into words only made it sound silly. Like she was being incredibly paranoid just because things had been strange for a day.

"Like what?"

"I don't know! The big bad wolf." Ella exclaimed and Stiles' eyes widened comically. "Stiles, I was kidding. Besides there haven't been wolves in California for like-"

"Sixty years, I know." her brother finished for her and got up from the bed to leave her room. "I'm hungry, I'm gonna make some food."

Ella was left alone in her room and the sudden silence felt suffocating. It was amazing how one day was enough to turn everything on its head. How everything could change because a deer ran into a car and every other animal suddenly decided to lose their minds as well.

Maybe something was coming. And it couldn't be anything good.


	5. Basic instincts

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _She went to work the next day. She woke up and the cut on her cheek was gone, so she got dressed and drove to work. The halls were empty when she arrived; signaling that she was late and class had already started._

 _Everyone was silent as she entered the class room, but no one seemed to notice her by the door. Instead they were all staring at the women, who stood behind the teacher's desk and she almost screamed, when she saw her._

 _The teacher was dressed in normal clothes that seemed familiar and she wondered if it was her own. Her skin was a sickly white color and all hair was missing from her head._

 _She froze in fear, when the woman slowly turned her head to look at her and was unable to move as the teacher started walking towards her. Her face was severely scarred by deep scratches made by some kind of claws and she was missing both her lips and eyelids. She was terrifying._

 _The woman remained silent as she came to a stop right in front of her, whose stomach turned at the strong stench of decay and the rusty taste of blood on the tip of her tongue. A deafening scream suddenly filled the silence and she fell to her knees as her ears began to bleed._

For the first time in years, Ella woke up screaming.

* * *

In the morning Ella decided to take the principal's offer to take a personal day and called in sick. He assured her that it wouldn't be put on record and Ella could breathe a little easier. She had always hated skipping school or work.

Her father had practically stood beside her as she called, making sure she actually did it. He was worried about her. Especially after she had woken the whole house with her blood-curling scream. Ella had pretended she didn't remember what she had dreamt about, but she was also certain that at least Stiles didn't believe her.

She couldn't tell them. Not when it had felt so real and the image of the woman still flashed before her eyes every time she closed them. If she told them they would only start worrying even more.

When Ella got tired sitting around home around 3 PM, she decided to walk the three miles to Ophelia's coffee shop. She hadn't talked to her friend about what had happened at the school and needed the company of someone, who wasn't involved in all of the crazy going on around her.

Ella left her house in a pair of denim shorts and a red thin knitted sweater. Her chestnut curls were gathered in a bun on top of her head to make sure none of it made contact with the cut on the back of her neck. She figured it was more sanitary like that.

"Okay, who do I have to kill?" Ophelia asked loudly as soon as Ella entered the shop and several customers looked up from their coffee in shock.

"Don't worry, they're already dead."

Ella's words and calm demeanor only made the customers stare harder, but both girls ignored them. Ophelia leaned over the counter, when Ella got close enough and turned the brunette's head to get a closer look at the cut on her cheek.

Ophelia's long blonde hair fell into her eyes, when she tilted her head slightly and she brushed the locks behind her ears. She then moved over to the espresso machine and prepared two shots for their coffee.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"It's nothing really. The one on my neck is worse." Ella told in a brushing off manner and then turned her back to Ophelia to show the larger scratch there.

"I ask again, what the hell happened to you?"

"Did you hear about all the animals going crazy around town yesterday?"

"Yeah. I had to lock Buffy inside my bathroom because she tried to bite me. She kept running into the door after that and knocked herself out. She is fine now, but I seriously had to pee, when I got to work this morning."

Ophelia's caramel-colored Toller, Buffy – the very first thing Ella and Ophelia ever bonded over had been their love for Buffy the Vampire Slayer – was probably the most loving dog Ella had ever met and she couldn't imagine it trying to bite anyone.

"You should take her by the animal clinic to make sure she's okay."

"Yeah, but I heard a rumor that all the cats there practically committed suicide." Ophelia whispered conspiratorially.

She finished the two caffè latte she had been preparing, leaving the register to the young guy, Logan, she had hired about a month ago. They sat down in a more secluded part of the shop; away from the other customers.

"It's not a rumor. I went by the clinic with my dad and saw the room myself. It was awful." Ella told her friend, cringing at the image of the mutilated cats that appeared in her mind.

"Holy fuck. But who did that to you?" Ophelia asked and pointed at her cheek, while checking if her coffee was too hot to drink. She made a funny grimace, when she burned her tongue.

"So I had my first day at the school yesterday."

"Right! How was it?" her friend interrupted excitingly and Ella tried not to roll her eyes. Ophelia always had trouble keeping to one conversation at a time.

"The teacher I'm helping, Jennifer, is really nice. And she seems clever and good at her job."

"Does someone have a girl crush?" Ophelia teased with a smile and this time Ella did roll her eyes.

"No. And you're my girl crush, remember?"

"Oh honey, I'm sorry. But I'm kinda seeing Blake." Ophelia apologized and placed her hand over Ella's hand, making them both laugh.

Blake River was another girl from their year that Ophelia and Ella used to hang out with, who they had now reconnected with over the summer. Or Ella had. Ophelia and Blake had remained friends while she was at Stanford.

Blake was cleverer than both Ella and Ophelia – not Lydia-clever, but who was? Sadly, her mother had become sick with breast cancer at the end of their senior year, so Blake decided to stay in Beacon Hills instead of going to college.

Madeline River died from her illness a year after being diagnosed and left behind three children and a husband. Blake had struggled to move on from it, but had started taking courses at community college last year.

"Anyway, Jennifer did this thing where she texted all of the student a quote from a book they were going to read and then told them that it would be the last text they received in her class."

"She sounds cool."

"Yeah. She's only a few years older than us actually. So after that I introduced myself, Stiles didn't embarrass me, and the class begun. But suddenly this bird crashed into one of the windows and before we knew what was happening, a whole flock of crows just broke through the windows and started attacking us."

"You got attacked by birds?" Ophelia asked in disbelieve, but then started smiling as if she had thought of something funny. "Or should I say _angry_ birds?"

"Har, har." Ella replied dryly, but smiled as well.

"That sounds like a rough first day. Do your dad have any idea why all of this happened?"

"Nope. I think Stiles might have a theory, but he's been very vague about it so far."

"What if it's like that mega-quake that scientists keep talking about and we are all gonna die in like five minutes? Animals would probably go crazy if they felt something like that coming."

"I don't think so, but let's wait five minutes and see."

"In case we do die, I would just like to point out that you still owe me twenty dollars for those drinks we had last week."

Ella laughed at that, but reached into her bag and found her purse. There were two ten dollar bills inside, which she gave Ophelia, who pocketed them in her small apron.

"There. Now we can go without any regrets or unsettled debt."

"I still have one regret."

"What?"

"I never got to see Derek Hale naked."

* * *

No mega-quake came and Ella arrived back home alive and well. She was tired after a restless night, but felt ready to get back to the school in the morning.

Her brother had left home after dinner to go to a birthday party with Scott. It was Heater, a girl Ella had known since she was three years old, who turned 17 and had invited Stiles to her party. Ella had told her brother to give Heather her best wishes and had gone to bed.

That night she didn't dream about the scarred woman, but in her sleep Ella's hands clawed at her neck to stop whatever invisible power that was trying to choke her in her dream. She woke up two hours before her alarm rang; breathing heavily as she told herself it was just a nightmare.

Unable to sleep anymore Ella got up and took a shower. She was ready to leave an hour later, but school didn't start for another two hours. So she spent the time until her father awoke by watching crappy television in the living room.

When he asked her why she was up so early, Ella lied and told that she had accidentally set her alarm to wake her an hour too early and she just couldn't fall asleep afterwards. She didn't want him to worry about her more than he already did.

Because her car was still at the school she had to wait for Stiles so he could drive her, but at least he was ready to leave earlier than usual. He seemed distracted by something as they got into his car, but so was Ella, so none of them said anything about it.

"How was the party last night?" she asked when they had drove in silence for several minutes. It was unlike any of them to keep quiet for so long and it made her slightly angst-y.

"Weird, I guess. I didn't see much of Heather." Stiles shrugged and then frowned in thought. Ella watched him curiously, but he didn't put any words to his thoughts.

"Why not?"

"Okay, you're a girl, right?" Stiles said after a long moment of silence, where he seemed to be thinking about what he was going to say next.

"Yes, I believe so."

"So what does it mean when a girl kisses you, tells you she wants to have sex with you and then just disappears?"

"Are you telling me that someone wanted to have sex with you at the party?"

"It was Heather. She didn't want to be a seventeen year old virgin."

Ella didn't miss how Stiles looked out of his side mirror in embarrassment. But it wasn't because the topic they were discussing, considering he had started it himself and they had never been too shy to talk about sex before.

But Stiles was still a seventeen year old virgin and he clearly wasn't happy about it.

"I didn't know something was going on between you and Heather."

"There wasn't. And except for the kissing part nothing else happened."

"Maybe she changed her mind? Sex is not something you should just do because you turn a certain age. You need to be ready and maybe she figured out that she wasn't. It has nothing to do with you, Stiles."

"Yeah." Stiles sighed and brushed his hand over his hair to rub the back of his neck.

"Didn't you see her again afterwards?"

"No, something came up so we left the party. But I guess she just went back to her friends."

"Maybe you should try calling her."

"Maybe." Stiles nodded and parked his jeep in a spot close to the main entrance.

The siblings said goodbye to each other and went each their way; Stiles had to find Scott and Ella, Jennifer in the teachers' lounge. They were going to teach a senior class starting in ten minutes.

Jennifer didn't show any signs of having been scratched by birds two days ago and, unlike Ella, her skin looked smooth and untouched. Ella's cut had become less visible, but she hadn't managed to hide it completely despite the extra layer of make-up.

No birds disrupted the class this time and Jennifer ended the lesson by giving a senior, who had hit on Ella, detention. His friends were laughing loudly as Jennifer wrote a note and Ella had a feeling that he had done it because of a bet.

She was walking with Jennifer down the hall, when a door opened on her right and she bumped into something hard. Looking up, Ella found Derek Hale staring down at her and she quickly turned her head to look inside the room he had just exited, catching a brief glimpse of Scott.

Looking back at Derek, she found a slightly aggravated expression on his face – although she had a feeling that was just the default setting – but couldn't decide if it was because whatever had happened inside the classroom or because he had run into her.

"Ella?" Jennifer called, when she noticed the girl wasn't following her anymore, and glanced between Ella and Derek.

"I'll meet you in the teachers' lounge."

Ella kept her eyes on Derek as she waved the teacher off and heard Jennifer's heels click as she hesitantly walked away. She noticed how Derek's muscle tensed momentarily, made more obvious by the fact that he was wearing a t-shirt, and lifted an eyebrow at the display; she wondered if it was meant to intimidate her.

"May I ask what you're doing here, Mr. Hale?" Ella questioned the man in front of her politely. She felt a little stupid acting so formal, but it was the best way to keep her temper.

Ella really wanted to yell at him to leave Scott, and probably her brother, alone, but she was in a hall filled with students, who would find nothing funnier than to watch a drama unfold.

It was incredible how just running into him set of her flight-or-fight instinct. She had no idea why, because she didn't feel particularly afraid of him, but she didn't like him either. At all. And screw Ophelia for suggesting any sexual tension between them.

"Yes, but your brother can tell you. I'm busy." Derek said dismissively as he stepped around her and disappeared down the hall before Ella could speak another word.

 _What the hell?_

She glared after him for a long moment before she entered the room Derek had just left. She was surprised to find Allison and Lydia inside along with Stiles and Scott, and wondered what they could possibly be involved in that they needed to speak to Derek Hale.

"What is going on in here?" Ella asked loudly, surprising all of them except for Scott, who had already been looking at the door as if he was expecting her. "Why did Derek Hale just come out of this room?"

"Wait, Derek Hale was here? When?" Stiles questioned as he glanced around the room in feigned surprise and Lydia rolled her eyes at him. Ella decided to just ignore him.

"Scott? You wanna tell me what Derek, who has seemingly no business being here, talked to you about?"

"He just wanted to know if there was anything new in the missing case of Boyd and Erica." Scott explained calmly and Ella frowned at the plausibility of that. She still hadn't figured out how he even knew _those_ teenagers.

"Why would he ask you?"

"The police won't tell him anything, so he thought Stiles might know something."

"And you all needed to be here for that? Inside an empty classroom?"

The teenagers quickly glanced at each other and waited a moment too long to answer, making sure that Ella wouldn't believe a word of what came out their mouths next.

"Derek can be scary, you know." Stiles said with a pointed finger and Ella refrained from rolling her eyes at him. "Remember when he was arrested for killing his own sister?"

"I do. But I also remember that they found animal DNA on her body, so they released him again."

"Exactly. Which is why we weren't _too_ scared to talk to him."

"You suck at lying, Stiles." Ella sighed frustrated as she glanced at her watch, knowing that she would have to let them go if they had to make it to their next class in time.

She wouldn't be very popular if she was caught holding up students on only her second day at the school. Especially not when one of them was her own brother.

"Your next class starts in two minutes, so I'm gonna accept your lie for now, but I want a real explanation later, okay?"

Ella didn't give them a chance to agree, or lie more, as she left the room with those words.

She had believed Scott for a few seconds, but the rest of the story didn't make sense to her. She would just have to pry it out of Stiles later. Or maybe even Scott if it came to that.

* * *

Ophelia shuddered against the strong wind as she got out of her car and put Buffy on a leash. She had taken Ella's advice and was bringing her dog to the animal clinic for a check-up.

Buffy didn't seem traumatized by her moment of insanity a couple of days ago, but Ophelia felt guilty every time she looked at her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" she spoke loudly when she saw the "closed" sign hanging on the door, and Buffy barked when a clap of thunder sounded above them.

The animal clinic was supposed to be open for at least another half hour. She had looked it up online and it even said so on a sign beside the door.

Ophelia hadn't expected the incoming storm that had picked up as soon as she had left the parking lot by her apartment, and was only wearing a black suede jacket over her pink summer dress. It wasn't good at keeping her warm and if it started raining, her jacket would be ruined.

It almost seemed like the weather was her punishment for wearing anything other than her work clothes, consisting of jeans and a black t-shirt. Screw her for trying to have a private life. At least her hair was gathered in a bun high on her head and wouldn't be ruined by the wind.

Ophelia held her hands up beside her eyes to look through the window in the door and while it was dark at the front desk, there was light shining from the back of the clinic.

Annoyed by the wind blowing up around her and determined to get what she came for, she knocked on the door. No one came at first, so Ophelia knocked again and the front desk was lit up as the veterinarian appeared.

"I am sorry, miss, but we are closed for today because of the weather." Dr. Deaton told her regretfully as he unlocked the door to talk to her. A lightning split the sky and this time Buffy whimpered.

"Will you please just take a quick look at my dog? She hit her head really hard during the whole animal freak out and I just want to make sure she's okay. It will only take a few minutes."

Ophelia entwined her fingers, holding them up in front of her in a pleading gesture and sent the doctor her best puppy dog look. Buffy was doing the same by her feet and Deaton looked down at the dog before taking a step back to let them both inside.

"Thank you so much."

"Of course. Will you give me a minute to prepare and then I can examine your dog in the back room?"

"Sure. I'll just wait here."

Deaton smiled at her before he walked back to where he had come from, closing the small gate by the front desk after him.

Ophelia bent down to scratch Buffy behind her ear, when she whimpered once more. She seemed nervous, but Ophelia figured it was just the weather.

She could hear things being moved around in the back of the clinic and she was almost certain that there was more than one person back there.

Unless Dr. Deaton had started talking to himself in different voices. In that case Ophelia was probably better of just leaving immediately.

"Miss?" Deaton called as he appeared behind the desk and motioned for her to follow him. "If you will just bring your dog back here."

Ophelia got up from her crouching position and tugged on Buffy's leash. She paused when she made it to the small gate and swore under her breath when she couldn't touch it. Fucking mountain ash.

"Dr. Deaton?" Ophelia called after the veterinarian with a sigh.

For a moment she thought about just leaving, but that would probably seem suspicious. The doctor clearly knew about the supernatural and with everything that had been going on in Beacon Hills the last few months, she would probably have to make herself known sooner or later. Apparently it was going to be sooner.

"I can't open the door on my own." she told Deaton, when he turned to look at her and a deep frown settled on his forehead.

"Werewolf?" he asked calmly and moved back towards the gate, studying her intently.

"No."

Ophelia was only mildly surprised when Derek Hale, followed by Scott, Stiles and a blonde boy Ophelia didn't know the name of, came to stand behind the doctor.

"They are, though." Ophelia said as she pointed at Derek, Scott and Blondie, giving Ella's brother a small wave as well. "Hey, Stiles."

Scott and Stiles exchanged a wide-eyed look before glancing at Deaton and then back at Ophelia. Blondie stood beside them looking confused – and wet? – and had clearly no idea who she was. He seemed familiar, though, but Ophelia had no guesses as to why.

"What are you and what do you want?" Derek demanded to know, clenching his jaw so much that it looked painful, and placed himself in front of Deaton to glare down at her.

She was a little surprised that he hadn't figured it out after their brief exchange in her coffee shop a month earlier, but recognizing her kind could be difficult if you had never met one before. Hell, most people familiar with the supernatural thought her extinct.

"Use your eyes, Derek, and you'll see what I am. As for what I want, is for Dr. Deaton to take a look at my dog." Ophelia told him calmly and relaxed her body completely to make it clear she wasn't a threat.

It visibly worked as all three werewolves lowered their tense shoulders with a small breath of air. Ophelia knew she was cheating a bit since they practically just imitated her, but she didn't intend to harm them after all. And a calm werewolf was a lot easier to talk to.

She looked at Deaton and Stiles, who wouldn't be affected by her, and wasn't really surprised to find Stiles looking at her with narrowed eyes. According to Ella he noticed everything, so of course he had noticed the change in the werewolves' postures.

When Stiles didn't say anything, she turned her eyes to Derek and found him squinting at her, his red alpha eyes shining brightly in her reflecting light.

Ophelia knew her true form could feel almost blinding, but that mostly depended on the moon cycle. Considering it was the full moon in a couple of days, it might hurt their eyes more than usual.

"What kind?" Derek asked bluntly as his eyes went back to their usual pale green color and he looked her over more thoroughly.

She knew he probably wanted her to feel uncomfortable by his scrutiny, but Ophelia just smiled at him, making a smile, to her surprise, tug at the corner of his mouth.

"I know a werewolf when I see one and can't get past mountain ash." she tried hinting with a tilt of her head and a thoughtful frown appeared on Derek's face, scrunching his heavy eyebrows slightly together.

"Moon." the alpha stated after a brief moment and looked surprised that he hadn't figured it out sooner. Or maybe that someone like her was actually standing in front of him.

"Moon what?" Stiles asked from behind Derek and stepped forward, while still keeping a healthy distance to the new strange creature that posed as his sister's best friend.

Ophelia tried not to blush as she realized she had almost forgotten that the others were present as well. She blamed Derek's alpha status.

It was distracting and affected her instinct to be close to whoever could best protect her. Evolution had done that to her after her kind had been hunted down for over two centuries. It wasn't as much survival of the fittest as survival by hiding behind the fittest. Fairies were fragile, and sometimes cowardly, creatures.

And it had nothing to do with the clear contour of muscles underneath his shirt, the way he was intently staring at her with ill-hidden wonder or the fact that he had briefly smiled at her. Yep, she was good. No danger of any crushes developing.

"Fae. I'm a moon fae, or fairy if you will." Ophelia told the others softly, hoping that her voice would be enough to ease them into the realization.

They probably thought fairies were creatures belonging solely in fairytales, but the same could be said about werewolves and horror stories.

"And I turn into a unicorn the first Friday of every month and vomit rainbows." Stiles replied sarcastically, proving that he definitely did not believe that fairies really existed.

Scott and Blondie looked skeptical as well, but the veterinarian studied her with the same open expression as Derek had on his face. Deaton was clearly surprised to meet one of her kind as well.

"She's not lying. There are indeed such things as fairies, although I thought they had become nearly extinct." Deaton told the three teenage boys, who stared at each other and then at her in shock, clearly believing everything Deaton told them.

She hoped he was trustworthy. Otherwise she would very quickly be in trouble. Fairies were worth a lot in the supernatural world as they worked as enhancers for power of different kinds. Deaton, or anyone else, could ask almost any price for her if he wanted.

Ophelia, as a moon fairy, would be a nice accessory for a power hungry werewolf for example. Which was also why trusting Derek with her identity was a bit risky. But so far she hadn't sensed any bad intent.

She hadn't figured how that worked exactly; knowing how to recognize a werewolf and be in tune with their basic nature. But somehow it did and it had saved Ophelia more than once.

"We are not doing too well, no. And living in Beacon Hills might not be the best idea, when you are one of the lasts of your kind. A lot of bad stuff happens here." Ophelia said with a humorless laugh and absentmindedly scratched Buffy's head.

"Then why are you here?" Derek asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice and Ophelia exhaled through her nose, not sure how to explain it in a way that didn't sound creepy.

"Well, first of all Beacon Hills is somehow literally a beacon for everything supernatural, so it shouldn't surprise you I'm here. Secondly, this is where I grew up and have a life, so I don't really feel like leaving. And my last reason… is you."

"Wait, I think I heard that wrong." Stiles said after a long pause, interrupting the pregnant silence that had filled the room with her admission. Ophelia turned to look at Ella's brother, waiting for the joke that was inevitably coming. "You're _staying_ because of Derek? Shouldn't he be the number one reason to leave?"

"Shut up, Stiles." Derek growled at him, but Ophelia couldn't help a lopsided smile.

If Stiles hadn't been Ella's little brother, she would probably have found him much more annoying, but as it was she often just laughed at his sarcastic remarks.

"I'm here because of Derek's family. Or I was. Now the reason for staying is just as much Scott and Blondie over there. It's a werewolf-moon fairy thing. We're attracted to each other. Connected, I guess." Ophelia tried to explain.

But in her ears it wasn't exactly helping with the creepiness. She had practically just said that she was attracted to two 17 year old boys. She didn't mean it like that, of course, but she noticed the confused look the boys shared.

"It's a natural instinct." Deaton added, seemingly trying to help her, and they all turned to look at him.

"Both werewolves and moon fairies draw their powers from the moon. That power is enhanced by physical closeness between the two. Which is also why moon fairies are a rare sight. For many years they have been hunted down by werewolves and hunters. For werewolves to use and for hunters to kill before the werewolves got a hold of them."

"Why did you reveal yourself to us?" Scott spoke up for the first time since she had arrived and moved to stand beside Derek. He didn't understand why she would bring herself in potential danger by sharing her secret.

Ophelia couldn't stop herself from smiling at him. Scott might not be an alpha, but there was still something there, pulling her towards him. Mind you, in a completely non-sexual way. But he was powerful.

"Well, I didn't know Dr. Deaton was a part of all of this and I still need my dog checked." Ophelia told with a gesture towards the veterinarian and then Buffy.

All their eyes turned towards the Toller, who had been studying them from where she was sat on the floor as if she understood what they were saying. Buffy immediately lowered her head, when Scott and Derek looked down at her.

"Here, let me take her." Deaton said, when they were all reminded why Ophelia actually was at the clinic, and unceremoniously opened the gate to let Buffy inside, closing it after him.

Isaac bent down to greet the dog, when Deaton passed him and Buffy wagged her tail happily. It brought him the tiniest bit of comfort, but the image of Erica's dead body still clouded his mind, even though he couldn't remember actually seeing her.

And he was also freezing after his turn in the ice bath. The cold had seeped into his bones and it felt like he wasn't going to get warm ever again. Although the blonde girl's appearance had seemed to ease him somehow. He couldn't really explain it, but he liked her already.

Ophelia stayed where she was to make sure none of them felt threatened by her presence. She might have her tricks to ease the werewolves, but she couldn't do much against an out of control alpha.

"And the second reason?" Derek asked as Deaton disappeared with Buffy to the examination room, reminding her that she still hadn't fully answered Scott's question.

"I trust you."

"You trust us?"

Derek let out an unbelieving laugh that made Scott and Ophelia glare at him, but Stiles seemed, for once, to be on Derek's side. Never trust anyone you don't know. Especially if they're supernatural.

Blondie was still standing in the background, looking as if he was only paying half attention. He was freezing, Ophelia noticed, which was highly unusual for a werewolf. They were warm-blooded creatures after all. Not Twilight warm, but still.

"Yes. My instincts tell me that you're not going to drain and kill me for my power. Am I wrong?" Ophelia snapped at Derek. She hated when people laughed at her.

She folded her arms in front of her and stepped as close to the mountain ash barrier as she could. She suddenly understood some of Ella's animosity towards Derek Hale. He could be kind of a douche.

"No." Scott answered for all of them and had a brief staring contest with Derek, who didn't seem to like the younger werewolf speaking for him.

Ophelia watched the pair with interest. She wasn't sure how the dynamics of their pack was, or if they even were in the same pack, but Derek and Scott seemed strangely equal.

"The thing is that you would have found out about me at some point. I am hard to miss if only you use your eyes." she told with a sigh and smiled at Scott, when a glimpse of confusion appeared in his brown eyes.

"Well, I am looking as hard as I can and I see nothing." Stiles exclaimed from behind his best friend and gestured towards her as if to show the "nothing" he saw.

"Not those eyes." Scott murmured to Stiles, but it sounded more like he was talking to himself.

Ophelia didn't have time to warn him before Scott's eyes suddenly shined a bright yellow and he took a step backwards at the sight of her. For a moment he seemed unable to look at her and held his arm over his eyes as if trying to shield himself from the sun.

"Scott, what is it?" Stiles questioned with a curious look her way and grabbed his friend's shoulder. "What do you see?"

"She's bright." was Scott's only answer and he blinked rapidly as he managed to look straight at her.

The blinding light around her slowly faded away – or he simply got used to it – to reveal a slightly different looking Ophelia.

Large wings stuck out from her back on either side of her, but they didn't seem to have any solid form or specific color. They were just fluctuating light. He doubted they could be used for actual flying.

Her hair and clothes looked the same, but her eyes had turned from cornflower blue to a glowing white, which was more beautiful than scary and reminded Scott of the moon. He felt how the connection she and Deaton had talked about suddenly became very tangible.

What fascinated him most was the way some of her veins seemingly lit up, where her skin was bared. As if they were filled with something other than her blood. Like blue neon was flowing underneath her skin; from her heart to the rest of her body.

Scott felt the sudden urge to touch her. The strange desire hit him like running into a wall and he took a step back, making his werewolf eyes disappear with some effort. It almost felt like he had been in a trance.

"Hey, dude. You're okay?" Stiles asked with a tighter grip on Scott's shoulder and the teen wolf stared at his best friend in surprise. "Scott?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're not." Derek told him with a shake of his head and glanced at Scott over his shoulder before looking back at Ophelia. "But you will be in a few minutes."

"What happened?" Stiles asked with a frown, looking between Derek and Ophelia, who seemed busy staring at each other.

Scott had left his side to lean against the wall beside Isaac, who watched him with a frown; not sure whether to look himself to see what had brought Scott out of it.

"He looked at me for too long." Ophelia explained with a regretful smile.

She should have warned him or told him to stop. But then she had seen that brief glimmer of something red in his eyes and had been just as lost looking at him as he was at her. It didn't affect her in the same way, though.

"He looked at you for too long? What does that even mean?" Stiles questioned in a frustrated tone; both worried about his friend and annoyed that he had practically no idea what they were talking about. That happened… never.

"They're like sirens." Derek said before Ophelia had the chance to explain and the blonde looked at him through narrowed eyes.

She hated being called that. Like she was some evil seductress luring men to their deaths. Of course, some of her ancestors was and had done exactly that, giving the fairies the reputation of being evil vixens or tricksters, but she definitely wasn't.

"If you're not careful their beauty can hypnotize you. Make you do things you never even thought of doing before. For a werewolf a moon fairy is even more dangerous." Derek continued with a brief look at Scott, who was almost back to normal.

A lot faster than expected, Derek noted to himself, but didn't show any signs of his surprise.

"Yes, but that's not what we do. Not what _I_ do." Ophelia defended herself with a pointed finger and a glare directed at Derek.

"What do you do?" Stiles asked as he leaned his hands on the mountain ash gate between them, no longer seeming to care if he got too close to her.

"I manipulate light. I absorb the light cast by the moon and convert it."

Ophelia elected not to tell them about her special "touch" with werewolves. How she could essentially manipulate and read them the same way one could a dog.

She couldn't dominate them, of course. Especially not an alpha. But with simple body language she could affect their mood like she had done earlier by relaxing her own body, thus making them relax as well.

"Convert it into what?"

"Energy, but I can't show you here. There's too much mountain ash and the moon actually has to be visible, which it isn't because of the current weather."

The storm outside had picked up considerably and lightning occasionally lit up the sky. Heavy raindrops pelted against the windows, making the whole scene feel like a bad omen.

"So the weather is bad and you're practically useless?" Stiles questioned and gestured towards the front of the clinic. His words didn't have any mocking intent, but they still sparked a surge of annoyance inside Ophelia.

"Stiles." Scott groaned at his best friend, who once again had stepped over the line.

"You're one to talk." Ophelia retorted with a tilt of head and her arms crossed in front of her.

She usually didn't resort to mean girl tactics, especially not with her best friend's brother, but she had had a long day and Stiles was seriously pissing her off. At least that seemed to silence him.

Derek, on the other hand, snorted in amusement at her reply.

"Come on, Stiles. Time to go do some research, remember?" Scott told his friend, who was having a staring contest with Ophelia.

Stiles seemed to be thinking hard about something, but apparently decided not to put it into words.

"Fine." he finally gave in and followed Scott to leave through the back door. "Let's break into a bank."

"Break into a bank?" Ophelia repeated in surprise, when the two boys had disappeared around a corner and Derek gave a solemn nod as if that was completely normal. His thoughts suddenly seemed to be elsewhere.

"Hey, by the way," Stiles' voice suddenly called out, making her jump slightly, as he returned to the front desk. "Does Ella know?"

"No. But I think you should tell her soon. She knows something is up, Stiles. She has for months now." Ophelia told him in a soft voice, putting their earlier argument aside. Stiles swallowed visibly and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. I'll tell her. As soon as I find the right way."

"There's never a right way. You know that."

Stiles didn't have any answer to that, but gave her a nod in goodbye and left the room once more.

Ella being in the dark was a short-sided plan at best. And it wasn't protecting her at all. Not knowing what was out there had proved fatal to many the last few months.

Ophelia didn't know what had happened exactly, but the mountain lion killing people and the hostage situation at the sheriff's department had sounded anything but natural her. She hadn't dared looking into it though, in fear of being discovered.

It suddenly hit her that the sudden string of murders probably correlated with Scott turning into a werewolf. He hadn't always been, she was certain, and she didn't remember there being anything different about him, when she ran into him and Stiles in December. So he had been turned after that; in January, when all the murders started.

Not that Scott was to blame for any of the bad things happening, but it seemed as if it had all just escalated from there.

"You think she'll accept all of this?" Derek asked after a moment of silence between them and Ophelia didn't have to guess who he was talking about.

"Yes." she said without hesitation, but Derek didn't seem to believe her. "If Stiles tells her that werewolves exist then she'll believe him. It might take her a couple of days to comprehend it all, but she will believe him. And then she'll probably hunt you down."

"Me? She'll go after me?" Derek said with a mocking laugh, clearly finding it funny that the petite woman that was Ella Stilinski would even think about it.

"I would love to see that." a voice came from behind the alpha and Ophelia glanced past him to find Isaac still leaning by the wall.

She had completely forgotten he was there. It seemed Derek had as well and he scowled at the amused look on his beta's face.

"Ella dated my brother for a few months actually, before he entered the army." Isaac reminisced with a weak smile and Ophelia suddenly realized why he seemed familiar.

He had been the young boy sometimes trailing around after Ella and her ex, Camden Lahey, when they went to different parks and cafés. She remembered thinking about how annoying that had to be, but Ella didn't seem to mind.

Ophelia also remembered that Camden had died in combat just a few years ago. And that Isaac's father had been killed. A murder Isaac was suspected of having committed after it was revealed that his father had abused him for years. Matt Daehler, a 16 year old boy, was later found guilty of the crime along with many others.

"I remember." Ophelia told him with a warm smile and thought about how strange it was that so many from Ella's past and present were somehow connected with the supernatural world.

"You were one of her high school friends." Isaac pointed out and she was surprised that he remembered her. "I used to have a big crush on you."

"I'm flattered." she laughed and Isaac looked down in sudden embarrassment, even though there was a smile on his face. "So you also think she would kick Derek's ass?"

"Totally."

They both laughed at that, but Isaac paused after a look at Derek, who was staring at him without humor in his eyes.

Ophelia looked at the werewolf alpha in confusion, but nothing about his features revealed what he was thinking. Isaac seemed to understand, though and smiled at Ophelia.

"I haven't really talked to Ella in years, but she's a strong person. She can take whatever comes her way." Isaac told in a suddenly serious voice and Ophelia smiled in agreement.

"See you around, Blondie." the werewolf said with a wave and one last look at Derek before he turned on his heel and left the room without any explanation as to why.

Ophelia shook her head at his nickname for her, but it made sense since she had called him the exact same thing, when she couldn't remember who he was. She then turned to look at Derek, who was watching his beta leave.

"What was that about?" Ophelia asked, when she couldn't think of a reason why Derek was in such a sour mood.

Unless Derek was bothered by them talking about a woman kicking his ass. But she doubted he was that insecure about his own prowess.

Derek just looked at her, the glare in his eyes disappearing, and didn't offer an answer. Ophelia rolled her eyes. She would love to meet the person, who one day could get through to him.

"Look, Ella already knows that you're involved with Scott and Stiles." she said, continuing the conversation that Isaac had interrupted. "And instinctively, she knew that it was nothing good. She practically jumped you in the coffee shop. How do you think she'll act, when she finds out you got them involved in this mess?"

"Why do you think it was me?"

"An educated guess." Ophelia shrugged and could tell, despite the blank expression on Derek's face, that she was right. She didn't think he had been the one to actually bite Scott, but he was definitely involved somehow.

"It was my uncle, Peter, who bit Scott." he told in a disgruntled voice and Ophelia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Last she heard Peter Hale was practically comatose after what had happened during the Hale fire.

"You said you stayed here because of my family." Derek then said and Ophelia sent him a sad smile as she remembered how she had cried, when she heard about the tragic loss of his family.

Talia Hale had been like an aunt to her.

"My parents knew yours." she told Derek after having just stared at him for a few seconds.

The physical traits he had inherited from his mother suddenly stood out sharply on his face. The nose, the cheek bones, the almond-shaped eyes. She had a feeling their smile was the same as well.

"Your parents?"

Derek was clearly surprised by that connection and looked her over for the fifth time within the last ten minutes as if her appearance changed every time she revealed something new about herself.

"Not that I know who my real parents are. I'm a changeling." Ophelia told after a moment of hesitation, knowing how bad it might sound to some. The changeling part of it, that is.

"A changeling?" Derek asked with a confused expression that she did not think was cute at all. Not even the tiniest bit.

"There's this folklore about fairies taking human babies and leaving their own in its stead. The fairy babies are called changelings."

"I know the story. My mother once told me about fairies. So your parents switched you out with a human child?"

"No, as I said it's just folklore. Fairies don't switch the babies, they just leave their own. And my parents were on the run from hunters, so they left me with Talia. Somehow she found me a new family, a normal one, so I could hide among them. And humans have a stronger scent than fairies, so not even werewolves could find me."

Derek's reaction to her story flickered over his face, showing different emotions at each new word. It was strange seeing him be so expressive, when she had just gotten used to his perpetual stone face.

"My mother knew about you. She never told me."

"It was too dangerous, I guess. But she took care of me, made sure I was always safe and happy. I loved her. And it broke my heart, when she died. I wanted to talk to you about it actually, but Talia always told me never to get in contact with any of you. Even if something happened to her."

"My mother had a lot of secrets." was all Derek gave her as answer and seemed unable to look at her. Was he hurt that she had kept it from him? As far as Ophelia knew Talia was only protecting both of them.

Ophelia vividly remembered the moment she found out Talia was dead, but she couldn't even imagine how it must have been for Derek.

"You knew what I was, when I came to the coffee shop." Derek then spoke with a lifted eyebrow, shifting his mood so quickly it almost gave her whiplash. She studied him for a long moment before smiling knowingly.

"I did. Which is why I was both amused and slightly worried about your and Ella's small fight."

"You also knew I could hear every word of your 'private' conversation." he added with the beginning of a smirk forming on his lips. Was he actually going to smile at her? A miracle, if she ever saw one.

"Are you referring to Ella's former crush on you and the fact that you once kissed her senseless or the licking of toes?" Ophelia questioned innocently and bit into her lower lip to hide a smile.

She pretended not to notice how Derek's eyes briefly flashed down to her lips.

"Both."

Ophelia let out a melodic laugh at that, making her blue eyes shine with amusement and Derek's face split in a grin, showing off his white teeth. A miracle indeed.

"Well, Ella is completely over you if that's what you're wondering about. And she has this perfect ex-boyfriend that she's not over. Plus it would be kinda like dating a female Stiles. Not completely, but close enough."

She noticed Derek shudder at that and laughed again. There was clearly some tension between Stiles and him, even though Ophelia wasn't sure why. Maybe Stiles had just pissed off the werewolf one time too many.

"And the toe-licking?" Derek reminded her with an amused smile and she felt herself blush. She never blushed and he had made her do it twice now. Damn him.

What the hell was he even doing, flirting with her? When had that started?

"Are you offering?"

Ophelia inwardly chastised herself for asking him that, forgetting both her own rule and the one Talia had imprinted on her for years: stay away from Derek Hale. Nothing good could come of it.

"You think I would actually want to lick your toes?" he chuckled and sounded as if he wasn't sure whether she was kidding or not. She was. Most definitely.

There was a surprisingly playful look in Derek's eyes as he took a step forward, leaving only the mountain ash gate between them and Ophelia pretended not to feel something flutter in her stomach.

She had never been like this before. Swooning at the mere sight of a pretty face paying her just a little attention. But Derek Hale was different apparently and it was annoying her a lot.

"Don't forget, I'm a siren. I can make you do things you've never even thought about doing before." Ophelia told him in a low voice, sounding purposely seductive as she repeated what he had said about her kind earlier.

She ignored the voice in the back of head, sounding suspiciously like Ella, telling her to take a long step back and stop flirting with him. In the end another voice stopped her as Deaton appeared behind Derek with Buffy at his side.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything." the veterinarian said with a lifted eyebrow, but didn't show any other signs of having heard their conversation. Derek and Ophelia both took a step back at the sight of him.

"Your dog is fine, Miss…" Deaton continued, when none of them said anything, and opened the gate for Buffy.

"Lite. My name is Ophelia Lite."

"How appropriate."

They both smiled as Deaton gave her the dog leash and left the gate open after him.

"Buffy might need to take it slow for a day or two to make sure there is no head trauma, but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary."

"Thank you so much. How much?"

"This one was free."

"Are you sure? Because I have money." Ophelia asked as she pulled her wallet from the pocket of her jacket, but Deaton just shook his head.

"You have giving plenty tonight by sharing your secret with us. A secret I promise we will keep. Goodnight, Miss Lite." the man said to her surprise and she couldn't stop herself from glancing at Derek, who was no longer smiling like he had done moments before.

"Derek, if I could talk to you when you're done here."

The alpha nodded at the veterinarian, who then left the room and the two of them alone.

"I should go." Ophelia said before any form of awkward silence had the chance to stretch out between them – she really, really hated those – and Derek simply nodded at her.

Okay, then. That was all the not-serious Derek she got for the day. Or possibly ever.

She quickly turned on her heel, impatient to escape the strange tension between them and had made it to the door, when Derek called after her. She ignored the strange flicker of relief she felt as she actually didn't want to leave him. Her natural instinct was to stay close to him.

"Ophelia."

At first she only glanced over shoulder to look at him, but the expression on his face made her turn around fully. He looked worried. As if he had suddenly thought of something important.

"There's something you should know if you don't already." Derek said as he stepped through the open gate and walked up to her.

It was the closest they had been so far and Ophelia felt a familiar tug in her abdomen. No freaking way she was affected by this. Since when did her hormones start acting like she was a crazed teenager again? Maybe it had just been too long since she had gotten any. That had to be it.

"There is an alpha pack in town and they're after me. They will come after you if they find out what you are."

Every confused and semi-dirty thought Ophelia had vanished like snow in the sun and her body stilled completely. She stared at Derek with wide fearful eyes as her blood ran cold.

"Ophelia?" Derek called in a low voice and was half afraid that she had gone into shock. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her chemosignals were all over the place; fear being the most prominent.

"De-Deucalion is here?"

Her voice was shaking as she spoke and her knuckles turned white as her fingers clenched around the dog leash. What was she going to do now? She couldn't hide from Deucalion, could she? Should she run?

"You know him." Derek commented with a deep frown and was suddenly worried that the alpha of alphas already knew about Ophelia. That he was coming for her as well.

"Yes." was all she managed to tell Derek and barely noticed how his hand came to rest on her shoulder. Ophelia's eyes hadn't left his for even a second.

She didn't know if he was waiting for an explanation, but she was too shocked to give him one. She didn't know Deucalion personally, but had definitely heard about him and his pack.

Ophelia had nightmares of him coming to town and ripping out her heart to get to all the power flowing within her. He had done it before to others of her kind.

"Does he know about you?" Derek asked in an urgent voice, bringing her out of her nightmarish thoughts. Ophelia quickly shook her head and the alpha let out an audible sigh. At least she didn't think he did.

"Then you'll be okay. Just be careful and stay away from me. I'll only get you killed."

"That's not true." Ophelia argued softly and frowned at his words, slowly coming out of her shock.

He had sounded a little too convinced about the last part. As if he somehow would be the cause of her dead, Deucalion or no Deucalion.

"It is. Now give me your phone." he demanded and lifted his hands off her shoulder, leaving behind a ghost of the warm pressure his touch had provided. He then presented the palm of his hand to her, waiting for her to do as he said.

Derek wasn't looking at her anymore and nothing about his voice was comforting as it had been moments earlier. Like he was just shutting down. She stared at him for a long moment before reaching into her pocket and placing her phone in his hand.

As his fingers started typing on her phone, she thought about what to do.

Maybe she should just leave Beacon Hills. Hide until it was over. But she also knew that she couldn't. Ella would probably be involved in all of this soon, and so would Scott and Stiles. And Derek.

Ophelia wasn't a coward. At least she didn't want to be. Just because she couldn't fight, it didn't mean she had to choose flight.

"You have my number now." Derek told her as he gave her back her phone and she looked down at it, seeing the name 'Derek Hale' in her contacts.

"If you're in danger then call me. If you think someone is following you, call me. If you think there's any chance Deucalion has found out who you are, call me."

She didn't know what to think about his insistence that she should stay away from him, while telling her a minute later to call him if she needed help. He couldn't have it both ways.

"So what is it? Stay away or call you?" Ophelia asked and couldn't quite hide her annoyance. She knew he was trying to protect her, but he was giving her a freaking headache.

"Just do as you've always done. Which is to not talk to me or act like we know each other. But if you see Deucalion, you call me. If he gets his hands on you, we're all dead." Derek told her in a voice that was rid of emotion and Ophelia laughed humorlessly.

"Wow, my knight in shining armor."

"What is it you want from me?" he asked and he was clearly getting frustrated with her.

"Nothing." Ophelia sighed and glanced down at her feet, when she suddenly thought of something that made her mouth taste sour. "It's funny, isn't it, how hiding me used to be your mother's duty. And now it's yours."

She knew she shouldn't be bitter over something like that. Talia had done so much to help and protect her. But Ophelia had also felt isolated for most of her childhood. Like she was the alpha's dirty little secret.

She hadn't understood – still couldn't really – why she had never been allowed to meet or talk to anyone from Talia's pack or family. The Hale pack was large and powerful, they could protect her.

But apparently Talia didn't trust them. So Ophelia had been forced – not that she didn't love her adopted family – to live solely amongst humans and ignore her own nature. A nature that had drawn her to Derek the moment she had first laid eyes on him at school.

Derek's jaw tensed at her words, but he didn't respond. They stared at each other for a moment longer, feeling the tension between them until Ophelia shook her head and looked away.

She didn't know what she was expecting him to say or do. He was right, she knew. They didn't actually know each other and if would be safest for everyone to keep it that way. But she still didn't want to leave him.

It wasn't love at first sight or some other romantic bullshit. Except for the fact that he was ridiculously attractive, she barely even liked him. Yet she felt drawn to him like Icarus to the sun, which was a dangerous allegory if she ever heard one.

"Goodbye, Derek." Ophelia finally managed to tell him, and she might have imagined it, but she saw Derek's face fall a bit; his mouth relaxing and his green eyes turning soft.

But still she turned away, pulling Buffy with her and left the clinic without another look at him. She was soaked by the rain before she even made it to her car.

* * *

 **A/N: So that happened. What do you think about Derek/Ophelia? I thought Derek was a bit hard to write in this chapter because he's usually so broody, but I hope I got it right:)**

 **Tell me what you think! Your reviews always makes my heart grow a size bigger.**


	6. Exit, pursued by bear

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _"_ _A savage clamour!  
Well may I get aboard! This is the chase:  
I am gone for ever.  
_[Exit, pursued by bear.] _"_

William Shakespeare, _The Winter's Tale_

* * *

Ella watched the scene with a stunned expression on her face, having not expected to see what was now in front of her, when she opened the door to Stiles' bedroom.

Over a dozen of printed pages were spread across the floor; several of them reporting about some bank heist in the now closed Beacon Hills First National Bank. More were being printed out and the paper swiveled towards the floor.

On Stiles' chair beside the printer slept Scott with an open mouth, while Stiles lay in a position that reminded Ella of when he was a little child and would fall asleep curious places, which did not seem comfortable at all.

Stiles' legs were resting on his bed, while his torso was leaning over the edge and his shoulders were pressed to the floor; his cheek stuck to an article from the Beacon Hills Chronicles.

Somehow they were both sleeping soundly despite Ella having both yelled from her own room and knocked on the door. But it also looked like they had spent the better parts of the night reading about bank heists, so their comatose sleep didn't surprise her.

Ella knew she was snooping, when she bent down and picked up one of the articles on the floor, but was also too curious to care. Weird things were going on and the boys researching a bank heist was definitely one of them.

 _Is this what Derek wanted with them at the school? Make them break into a bank?! No, Ella. Stop it. That's stupid. And why would he ask two teenagers for help? They can't even get to school in time, how should they break into a bank?_

She still hadn't figured out what exactly Derek had been doing at the school the day before and maybe it was driving her a bit crazy.

Her plans to interrogate Stiles and Scott had gone out the window, when her father had informed her about Heather's disappearance and how her brother had been the last one to see the girl.

And when Stiles and Scott had walked through the front door with barely even a "hello" before running upstairs, Ella had decided to leave them alone for one more night. They were probably too worried about Heather to even care about Derek Hale anyway.

Ella dropped the article to the floor, having learned nothing of consequence from it, and looked at the boys once more. She smiled deviously as she pulled out her phone and took a picture of the two.

She was about to place to fingers in her mouth to whistle loudly, when her father appeared beside her in the doorway. He looked at the boys with a sigh before nodding to Ella, who closed her lips around her fingers and sharply blew out air, releasing a shrill sound.

Scott fell off the chair as he jumped to life and Stiles' legs followed the rest of his body to the floor. They both looked up in shock at Ella's grinning face and then at the sheriff, who wore a tired expression on his face.

"I gotta get to work. Ella too. You two, get to school." he told the teenagers without bother asking why he had found them sleeping half on the floor and in a chair instead of the bed.

"Dad!" Stiles called as he managed to sit up and remove the paper from his face. Ella noticed the sudden urgency in her brother's voice and glanced at her dad as he turned his attention towards Stiles. "Heather?"

Ella had to look away from the fallen expressions on both Stiles and her father's faces, when the latter told that Heater was yet to be found.

She worried about the girl as well, but she didn't know her as well as Stiles did. Nor did she have to investigate Heather's disappearance, knowing each hour of her missing reduced the chances of ever finding her alive.

Ella remained in the room after the sheriff left and glanced down at the papers once more. This time Stiles at least knew that she was snooping.

"So what's this?" she asked with a wide gesture towards the room and the two boys shared a quick look, which didn't go unnoticed by her.

"It's a school project." Stiles told without looking at her as he started gathering the mess around him.

"About what? How to Break into a Bank 101?"

"It's for History. We have to do a project about local history." her brother explained as he picked up a stack of print-outs and mindlessly looked through them before stopping short. "Dad?"

"Wait! Dad!" Stiles yelled as he ran out of the room with one of the articles in hand, leaving behind a confused Scott and Ella.

"He's very into it." Scott commented, when Ella looked at him with her eyebrows raised in question, and rose from the floor.

"Right. And I turn into a unicorn at night." she replied with a roll of her eyes, but didn't bother arguing so early in the morning.

Clearly something more than a history project was going on to make Stiles react like that, but she couldn't possibly figure it out. Not before she got some coffee, at least. And she really had to go to work. She could play Nancy Drew when she got home.

"Look, Scott, I know Stiles is keeping something from me. Which by default means that you are too. And unless you tell me, I'm going to find out what it is. Maybe not today, but soon." Ella told him in a serious voice and pointed her finger at him.

Scott opened his mouth as if to argue, but she stopped him by holding up her hand with a shake of her head.

"As of right now I just need you to do one thing for me." Ella said and Scott nodded for her to continue. "Promise me that you're not gonna get yourself hurt. Neither you, Stiles or anyone else. It doesn't matter what is actually going on, just promise me."

"I promise." Scott spoke after a moment of silence between them and Ella sent him a soft smile.

He could still see the worry in her auburn eyes, but she had let out a small breath as he promised her the impossible. He would do everything in his power to protect his friends, but that didn't always seem to be enough.

"Thank you. Now I really do need to get to work. I'll probably see you at school. Bye."

Ella had left the room before Scott could respond and he fell back into Stiles' chair, emptying his lungs for air with a deep exhale. Ophelia had been right, when she told Stiles that he needed to tell his sister soon.

And now he had done what Stiles always warned him about: "Never promise Ella anything, because she will never let you forget it. She's like a freaking elephant. And can hold a grudge in forever."

Scott didn't like this day already and he had a bad feeling it was only going to get worse.

* * *

" _So I was thinking that it was time for a reunion soon._ "

"I would love to, Ty. But I've just started a new job and have a second one to mind as well, so it's bit hard to just leave. Even for a couple of days." Ella told her friend regrettably, but didn't lose the smile on her face as she waited for Tyler to start offering up good ideas as usual.

" _That's easy. We'll come to you._ " Tyler suggested as if that would be no trouble at all and Ella realized how much she had missed his characteristic optimism.

Just seeing the name of her old college friend light up on her phone had made her smile and she had immediately taken the call even though she had been in the middle of a busy hallway.

She had walked quickly to the teachers' lounge that offered a little more privacy, even though Miss Olson, the math teacher, liked to eavesdrop.

"Tyler, I hate to rain on your parade, but don't you all have jobs as well? It's almost impossible to coordinate it so everyone have time to just leave town."

" _Babe, if we want to make this long-distance relationship last, you need to work with me, not against me._ " Tyler complained and Ella rolled her eyes at him.

She hated being called "babe" – those sorts of endearments always made her cringe – but Tyler loved doing it and the familiarity of it made her miss him and her Stanford friends even more.

Maybe she could somehow find time to visit San Francisco in the nearest future.

"Sorry, but I'm just trying to be realistic. And Beacon Hills isn't really worth visiting. Nothing really happens here."

" _Then why do I keep reading about it in the news?_ "

"Because people get murdered here, Ty. And they go missing. This town is pretty fucked up to be honest."

Ella could feel Miss Olson's eyes on her as she talked and dialed her voice down to an almost whisper as she finished her sentence. Not that the people in town didn't know about the strange things going on, but no one liked talking about it, apparently.

" _Again, why did you move back there?_ "

"To be with my family." Ella reminded him with a sigh, knowing they were about to begin an argument they had had at least a dozen of times.

" _But why don't your family move away from the fucked up town and come to San Francisco?_ "

"Because they have a life here! My dad is the sheriff and my brother is still in high school. You know this, Tyler. And it would be selfish of me to even ask them to leave that, because I want to live in the city with my friends."

" _You had a life here too. You loved your life here, Ella._ " Tyler argued and she could hear that he was getting irritated, just like she was.

"I'm not going to have this argument with you again, Tyler, and especially not now. Beacon Hills is my home and that's just how it is."

" _Home is where the heart is._ " Tyler pointed out teasingly and she was happy that he decided to let their argument go.

"Oh, shut it." Ella laughed and Tyler let out an offended gasp on the other end.

" _Speaking of the heart, your lover boy has left the city._ "

Ella pretended not to notice the missing "ex" in front of "lover boy" and frowned at the news. He had left? She couldn't remember him ever talking about moving away from Palo Alto.

"What? I mean, why?"

" _He went back._ " Tyler informed her solemnly and Ella's heart plummeted into her stomach.

"Back. As in…?" she questioned in a small voice and couldn't get herself to finish the sentence. She didn't want to.

The sudden rush of fear made her breathe a little heavier, and she clenched and unclenched her free hand. He had promised her not to go back while they were together. But now that Ella had left…

" _I'm sorry, Ella._ "

"No, it's okay. He'll be okay, I'm sure." Ella breathed out, but her voice sounded a bit shaky and she was certain Tyler could hear it.

" _He will._ "

"He will..."

Silence stretched between them as they wordlessly agreed not to say more about the issue and Ella closed her eyes for a moment, finding comfort in Tyler's artificial presence.

" _Hey, babe?_ " Tyler spoke after nearly a minute and Ella managed a small smile.

"Yeah?"

" _We're gonna come visit you soon and until then you better solve all the murder cases. My face is way too pretty to be the victim of any maiming or killing._ "

"Okay, pretty boy. I'm on it."

" _Awesome. Listen, I gotta go, but I'll talk to you soon, okay?_ "

"Okay. Take care and say hi to the others for me, when you see them."

" _I will. Love you, bye._ "

"Love you too."

Ella's words barely made it through the connection before Tyler hung up on her and she wondered what had suddenly caused him to be in such a hurry.

"Your boyfriend?"

Jennifer's voice made Ella jump in surprise and the older woman smiled in amusement as she sat down across from her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. I was just in my own thoughts, I guess." Ella told the teacher with a shake of her head and glanced down at her phone before hiding it away in the pocket of her blazer.

"And no, that was not my boyfriend. Tyler is just a good friend."

For some reason Jennifer looked doubtful and it took a moment for Ella to realize what she was thinking.

"He's not _that_ kind of 'good friend'." she added with a knowing look directed at Jennifer, whose cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment.

"I want to say I wasn't thinking that, but I think we both know my shameful secret." Jennifer said with a small laugh and started playing with a lock of her brown hair.

"It's been a while, huh?"

Jennifer stilled as Ella's words left her mouth before she could stop them and for a few seconds they just stared at each other until Jennifer smiled and gave a shy nod in answer.

"You and me both." Ella sighed heavily and couldn't help but giggle, when Jennifer made a funny noise in her attempt to not laugh too loudly.

It had been months since Ella had even kissed a boy and the more primal part of her wasn't happy. She wasn't desperate, though, considering she had had offers, but it hadn't felt right. Like she wasn't ready.

Ophelia had some theories about that, which Ella elected not to listen to.

Ella looked around the room to find a couple of the other teachers watching them, while Miss Olson was practically glaring their way.

 _How can she be offended by this? She's like thirty. Who the hell put a stick up her butt?_

When they stopped a laughing a minute later – Miss Olson's glare only made it funnier – Ella noticed that they only had five minutes until the next class started, giving her little time to talk to Jennifer.

"By the way, I was wondering if you might need some help tomorrow morning to prepare for class? I just remember you said yesterday that you were going to be here early tomorrow, and I would love to help."

Ella's question seemed to have surprised the teacher, who stared at her long enough to make Ella feel uncomfortable, and she got the feeling Jennifer couldn't figure out which way would be the best to turn her down.

"I will probably already be here at five thirty, since I have some other things to look at as well. I couldn't ask that of you, Ella. Especially when you don't get paid." Jennifer finally told her and Ella sent her a reassuring smile.

"You're not asking, I'm offering. And I have trouble sleeping at night anyway, so I might as well be a little productive."

Ella knew that it sounded weird that she wanted to meet as early as six to help Jennifer with something that probably wasn't too difficult to do herself. But she figured that making a good impression by fully engaging in her teacher's assistant role couldn't hurt her future career.

"If you insist." Jennifer gave in with a tight smile and got up from her chair to leave for the next class. "But don't feel pressured to be here at six sharp. Just come, when you're ready."

"I will." Ella promised and followed the teacher into the hallway, which was slowly emptying for students.

She tried to ignore the weird feeling that Jennifer didn't actually want her help.

 _You're just being weird, Ella. Unless she secretly finds me super annoying and had looked forward to some time to herself. Noooo. Stiles is the annoying Stilinski sibling. I'm hilarious._

* * *

Allison breathed heavily as she stood pressed against the door of the dark storage room, fighting to stay calm and not think about the strong smell of ammonium and decay that made her stomach turn.

Her heart was pounding against her ribs and she cursed herself for making the stupid decision to come alone. But she needed to prove herself to Derek, to Scott. Prove that she could help.

That she wanted to help despite the animosity she still felt towards the alpha, who had caused the death of her mother.

But now she found herself alone, scared and helpless, in a closet with Erica's dead body and a pack of murderous werewolves keeping her from leaving the enclosed space.

Bile rose in her throat as she glanced at the silhouette of Erica's limp corpse, leaning against a shelf, and she closed her eyes to push away the image that had now etched itself into her brain.

Erica's skin had turned a pale grey and her blue eyes were unseeing. Allison tried not to think about how long she had been dead. If she had come a week ago, would Erica then have been alive?

She had never like the female werewolf and hadn't had any qualms about hurting Erica, while she was under Gerard's influence, but Allison had never wished this fate upon the girl. To be brutally killed and then hidden away in a closet.

Allison thought once again about leaving the room, considering everything seemed quiet outside, but reminded herself that Miss Morell had told her to stay hidden until the fighting started.

She didn't understand what fighting the French teacher had talked about or why the woman was even at the bank; in the lair of the alpha pack. Was she working with them? Or was she investigating like Allison and had found another room to hide in?

Allison froze when she suddenly heard a loud noise, but couldn't discern the sound. She placed her hand on the door handle and waited with bathed breath for any other noises to reach her ears.

Her fingers tightened around the handle, when she heard the low rumblings of someone growling. This had to be it; the fighting Miss Morell talked about. Allison looked over at Erica's body one last time before carefully opening the door and stepping outside.

Slowly she moved along the walls towards the noise and hid in a dark corner, when she heard two set of footsteps coming towards her. They moved away before reaching her and Allison leaned out of the shadows, catching the sight of Miss Morell opening a large vault door.

A man in sunglasses stood beside her with a walking stick in his one hand, looking perfectly calm, and Allison realized she had gotten her first glimpse of Deucalion, the blind werewolf alpha.

The next sound that reached her was Scott's voice and her heart jumped in panic. Scott was here and if she didn't do something he might end up like Erica; beaten and broken. Dead.

Allison didn't move until Miss Morell and Deucalion had left, but she could already hear growls and bodies crashing against each other; the sounds echoing against the walls inside the vault.

She ran as fast as she could to the vault and made it in time to see an enraged Boyd charge towards Derek and Scott, who were stood with their backs against a wall.

"Look out!"

Both werewolves looked up in surprise at her sudden appearance, but didn't have time to comment on it as they were busy fighting Boyd and a girl Allison hadn't seen before.

She stood in the entrance to the vault, unable to help, and watched as Scott was thrown around, clearly not strong enough to take on Boyd. She had to do something, but didn't know what.

Allison watched horrified as Boyd buried his claws in Scott's stomach and pressed him against a wall, lifting him from the ground with only one hand. Scott was bleeding heavily and Allison looked around for some way to help, noticing the closed ring of mountain ash in front of her.

"No! Don't break the seal!" Derek shouted as she reached down to do exactly that.

Allison paused for a moment, looking at the alpha and then at Scott, who was losing his fight against Boyd. She had to. She had to save Scott.

"Boyd!" she yelled, catching the werewolf's attention just as she swiped her fingers over the ash, breaking the seal that kept the werewolves inside the vault.

Allison jumped away as Boyd and the unfamiliar girl forgot about Scott and Derek, raced towards her and out of the vault. Scott was safe. But she had just let two homicidal werewolves loose in Beacon Hills.

* * *

 _And Jennifer thought I would be tired. As if! I'm the life of this party for two._

Ella lifted her hand to her mouth, trying to hide the big yawn escaping her and glanced at Jennifer out of the corner of her eye. The woman's eyes were fixed on the paper in front of her, but she smiled knowingly.

"I told you it was early, Ella." Jennifer told her as she wrote something in a small note book and looked up at her tired assistant. "But I'm done here soon and then we can go out for some coffee. I just have to make a quick run to the storage down in the boiler room."

"Sounds good. I just need to make up one more question for the test."

Ella had spent the last hour since she got there coming up with questions for a pop quiz they were going to give one of the senior classes. She had thought it easy and quickly done with, when Jennifer had given her the task, but her brain was fried already.

She had regretted her offer to help the seconds her alarm went off at 5 AM, but she was too stubborn to not go. And Jennifer had seemed to be in a much better mood than the day before, when Ella arrived with breakfast.

Ella had discarded the thought that Jennifer would be annoyed by her presence, because the teacher clearly liked her. She had blamed it on PMS. That seemed reasonable.

The sun was yet to rise and the full moon lit up the class room in an eerie way despite the lights being turned on inside. It gave Ella a strange feeling of being trapped in a cheesy horror flick and like someone was constantly watching them.

"I'm sure it's fine, Ella. But you can wait here while I go down for some more paper for the printer. It can be a little creepy down there, so you don't have to go with me."

"Oh, thank God. I thought it was just me." Ella breathed in relief and the teacher smiled as she stood up to leave the room.

The sudden silence in the room was only interrupted by Ella herself as she tapped her pencil against the table, creating a metronome-like ticking. Staring down at the paper in front of her, she knew that she was stuck.

 _Maybe I should just leave it at nine questions. Nine is a good number. There were nine members in the Fellowship of the Ring. Great reasoning, Ella. Way to be a nerd._

Ella's thoughts were interrupted, when the sound of a car horn reached her ears and she startled in surprise. Who the hell was making that much noise on school grounds so early in the morning? It was barely seven.

More noise then seemed to come from outside and she was pretty sure she heard someone running around in the halls.

Ella didn't move at first, knowing what usually happened to the kids in horror movies who decided to find out what had made the strange noises, but figured it was just students, who had found a way to break in and got up to catch them in the act.

The hallway was dark and empty, but she was certain she could hear footsteps coming from somewhere inside the school. Then there was the distinct sound of growling and Ella froze in fear. Had someone brought a dangerous animal inside?

The footsteps and growls were getting closer and Ella's heart jumped in panic; her heart ready to burst out of her chest.

She didn't have time to think more about the source of the noise as a man and woman suddenly rounded the corner in high speed and she instinctively jumped out of the way, pressing herself against the lockers behind her.

Many things happened at the same time. A scream got stuck in Ella's throat as she noticed their yellow glowing eyes and animalistic features; fangs bared at her as if they were ready to attack her.

The woman immediately sprung towards her, but was smashed into the lockers on the other side of the hall by Derek, who had appeared out of nowhere, and flung to the floor.

The man, or creature, stopped short for a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do before he turned his attention to Ella as well.

"Catch!"

Ella didn't have time to locate the voice calling out to her before a weird metallic stick landed in her hands, and she flipped a switch without thinking. The stick lit up as blue currents of electricity coiled around the end of it.

Her arms lifted on their own as she pointed the stick towards the creatures and they seemed reluctant to come closer. Ella was sure she was going to have a heart attack at any point now and her hands shook in fear.

"Ella!"

She almost dropped her only defense against dead by mauling, when Scott's voice echoed in the halls and she followed the sound with wide eyes.

She had to be dreaming. This had to be another one of her nightmares about glowing eyes and running for her life.

But the adrenaline pumping through her body was too real and the shock in Scott's eyes was not something she imagined. He was here. So was she. And it wasn't a nightmare.

"Scott?" Ella stammered as she tightened her grip on the handle of her weapon and turned her eyes back to the growling creatures that wanted to kill her. Or she was pretty sure they wanted to.

They were snarling at her and Ella pressed herself impossibly closer to the lockers behind her. She glanced towards Scott again and noticed Allison's father standing beside him with a raised gun. Derek stood in front of them both with his muscles tensed and his gaze fixed on the murderous teenagers.

"Scott, it needs to be now." Derek growled in a low voice and Ella gasped loudly as his eyes turned a bright red.

The teen wolf shook himself out of the shock of seeing Ella and quickly stepped up to stand beside Derek, letting his eyes change to a glowing yellow. It was no use hiding any of it from Ella now.

"Come and get us." the alpha snarled at the two werewolves, catching their attention, and ran off with Scott; Boyd and Cora chasing after them.

Ella didn't move from her spot as she continued to hold the metallic stick out in front of her. Her mind was racing trying to find an explanation to what she had just seen, but nothing seemed plausible to her.

Scott's eyes were yellow. Derek's eyes were red. Two half human-half animal teenagers had just tried to kill her. Derek and Scott had run off with the creatures chasing after them as if it was actually a part of some plan.

"Ella." a deep voice spoke calmly from beside her and she whipped her head to the side to find Allison's father stand beside her.

He was looking at her warily, still holding his gun in one hand, while the other slowly reached towards her. His large hand wrapped around hers as he managed to flip the switch on the stick and lowered it towards the ground.

"Breathe." Chris told the young woman, when she looked like she was about to start hyperventilating and she took a shuddering breath.

"They're…" Ella whispered as she stared at the former hunter in shock and her legs threatened to give in underneath her.

"Werewolves."

There was no reason to ease her into it, Chris thought. She had seen too much to believe any lies he might tell her and the sooner she got an explanation, the sooner she could start comprehending what had happened. What was happening.

"They're werewolves." Ella repeated with a nod as if it made perfect sense and tension briefly left her shoulders before a deep frown settled on her forehead. "They're werewolves?!"

"Yes."

Chris reached out for her as Ella's legs wobbled under her and she glided down the lockers to sit on the floor. She was still clutching the metallic stick in her hands as if it was some sort of life-line.

 _He's crazy. That's gotta be it. Absolutely bonkers._

But she knew what she had seen. Glowing eyes, fangs and their features contorted into something that wasn't human at all. Werewolves. They were fucking werewolves. And Scott was one of them.

Ella flinched when a hand came to rest on her shoulder, but she didn't shy away from Mr. Argent's touch as he squatted down beside her. His light blue eyes watched her intently as if he expected her to say something, or perhaps faint, but Ella was at a loss for words.

"This has to be another nightmare." Ella finally whispered and closed her eyes in the hopes that when she opened them again she would wake up in her own bed. She didn't. She pinched her arm, but nothing changed.

"Another? You have dreamt about this before?" Chris asked in suspicion and studied the young woman carefully.

He was trained to notice anything out of the ordinary and if Ella was having prophetic dreams he needed to know. On the other hand he also wished to forget about it all. He had told Allison that they no longer would be involved in the supernatural world, but it was quickly becoming hard to stay out of it.

"It was just a few nightmares. Some monster with glowing eyes and claws chasing after me in the woods." Ella shrugged and squeezed her eyes shut once more, but it still wasn't working.

"A werewolf?"

"What? No. I mean, I don't think so. Wait, what are you trying to say? That I dreamt about werewolves before I knew that they existed, which I'm still not sure they do because I keep thinking this all just a bad dream, and I'm what? A psychic? A seer?"

Ella stared at him with what she knew was probably a dumb expression on her face. He couldn't be serious. It hadn't been werewolves she had been dreaming about. It had to be something else. Some monster she had seen in a horror movie she couldn't remember.

"No. But I have seen stranger things." Chris told her and Ella didn't even want to know what that meant. "When did the dreams start?"

"I don't know. Six months ago, or something."

A deep frown settled on the hunter's face and he opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by echoes of more growling coming from beneath them.

"What was that?" Ella exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and made the stick light up once more. Chris was on his feet as well and looked in the direction the werewolves had run.

"Stay here." he ordered the frightened woman and took off before Ella had a chance to protest.

"No freaking way."

Mr. Argent was already gone, when Ella managed to make her feet move, but it wasn't difficult to follow the sounds of fighting and she quickly ran after him. She barely noticed how the rising sun had begun to illuminate her surroundings in a warm light.

Ella froze when she made it to the stairs that led down to the boiler room. Jennifer was down there. The door at the end of the stairs was wide open and there was an eerie silence as there was no more growling echoing off the walls.

 _Please don't be dead, please don't be dead._

She held the blue-glowing stick in front of her as she slowly descended the stairs and reached the plateau of another stairway, leading further down and into the dimly lit boiler room.

The scene in front of her made her pause once more. Two bodies lay limb on the floor and between them was a bloody Derek on his knees, breathing hard. His shirt had been torn, showing off deep gashes in his skin, and blood was splattered across his face.

In front of him stood Scott, Mr. Argent and Isaac with their backs to Ella.

 _Isaac?! What the hell is Isaac doing here? Please don't tell me he's a wolf-person too_.

"Scott?" Ella spoke carefully; her voice loud in the gaping silence.

She couldn't help but take a step back, when the three men turned to look at her, and then another when Scott stepped towards her. His eyes had turned back to their usual brown, but she couldn't get the image of the snarling werewolves out of her head. And Scott was one of them.

"Ella, it's okay." he told her gently, but Ella's hands had started shaking again and she realized she was still holding the stick in front of her as a weapon.

Behind Scott, Derek was struggling to get to his feet and Isaac moved forward to help him. Ella's eyes shifted to them and she didn't notice Scott taking a step closer.

"Ella, no one here is going to hurt you." Chris assured her calmly and holstered his gun before he walked towards her.

Ella tried to ignore the sad look in Scott's eyes and switched off the stick in her hand, when Mr. Argent came to stand in front of her. He felt safe somehow. And she was almost certain he wasn't a werewolf. She remained motionless as he slowly removed the electric weapon from her hands.

"What happened to them?" she asked meekly and pointed towards the two teenagers on the floor.

She guessed them to be the ones that had tried to attack her and, from what she could see, their faces had regained their human features.

"They're just unconscious." Scott told her and Ella nodded slowly without really understanding. He was closer now, but she didn't move away.

"There's a teacher here." Derek groaned from behind them and Ella was abruptly reminded of Jennifer's presence in the storage. Had she been hurt?

"Jennifer." Ella spoke quietly and Scott's eyes widened slightly in shock. He had almost gotten his English teacher killed.

"I'll take care of her. You," Derek said, exhaustion clear in his voice, and pointed at Scott and Isaac. "Get them out of here."

"Wait, what do you mean 'take care of her'? What are you going to do to her?" Ella questioned fearfully and moved forward without thinking.

"It's okay. He's not gonna hurt her." Scott spoke from beside her and Ella flinched, when she noticed his proximity.

Suddenly she couldn't help but stare at him, not noticing that Derek had disappeared to find Jennifer and that Isaac was trying to lift Cora off the floor.

Ella was looking at the face of Scott McCall. A boy she had known since he was only six years old. A face she was so familiar with.

But right now she barely even recognized him. She had only seen the change of his eyes, but imagining the animalistic features on his face was suddenly all too easy.

"You're a werewolf." was all she could think of to say and Scott sent her a sad smile as he nodded. A new thought hit her and Ella gulped hard, almost unable to get the word out. "Stiles?"

"Stiles is human."

Ella couldn't stop herself from exhaling in relief at the news. He knew about all of this, she was certain, but at least he wasn't some creature of the night.

"Scott, some help here?" Mr. Argent called out, speaking through his teeth as he struggled to get Boyd of the floor. Isaac was standing beside him with Cora in his arms, unable to help.

Scott glanced at Ella, who was still staring at his face, and then moved back to help the hunter. The burden became considerably easier with Scott's strength and they carried Boyd's heavy body between them.

"Ella?" Scott spoke carefully as they made it to the bottom of the stairs and he noticed that Ella wasn't following them.

Isaac had made it to the top of the stairs, but paused as well to look down at the unmoving woman. It was kind of sad that she had to find out about the supernatural this way. That Stiles hadn't been the one to tell her.

He also hated that this was how Ella had found out about his own involvement in all of it. Isaac wasn't sure what she had seen before coming down to the boiler room, but he was certain that she had figured out that he was a part of it. That he was a werewolf. And now she was probably scared of him.

Ella had been one of the few persons, who had actually cared about him as a child. And while they hadn't spoken in years, except for a brief conversation in the hallway the day before, and she had only been with her brother for a few months, he still felt connected to her.

"I should…" Ella muttered to herself, looking in the direction she thought Jennifer to be, but didn't move. "Jennifer, she…"

"She will be okay, Ella. She's safe." Scott tried to reassure her, but all she did was look at him with eyes shining with worry and conflict.

She couldn't just leave Jennifer behind. Especially not with Derek Hale, a _werewolf_. Ella didn't know what her colleague, and friend, had seen, but Jennifer had to be equally as scared as she was.

But Ella needed answers. Answers, which only Scott could give her. And what was she going to tell Jennifer? She hardly even knew what was going on herself and couldn't possibly start explaining it to the other woman.

"What are you going to tell her? That Scott is a werewolf? That you were chased by monsters you don't even believe in yourself?" Mr. Argent's gravel voice questioned, echoing Ella's own thoughts.

"But I can't just leave her!" Ella objected with a gesture towards Jennifer's location, but still remained in her spot. He was right after all, but it didn't stop her from feeling guilty at the thought of just abandoning her friend.

"Yes, you can. She's safe in Derek's hands." Chris told her in a voice that left no room for discussion and moved forward, forcing Scott to follow him up the stairs.

Ella had a strange feeling that the hunter didn't quite believe those words himself. That he, like Ella, didn't trust Derek. But Scott did. And she trusted Scott.

"Fuck." she whispered as she glanced in Jennifer's direction one last time and then forced her feet to follow Scott up the stairs.

Scott and Mr. Argent, with the unconscious boy hanging between them, were halfway up the second pair of stairs, leading into the hallway, when Ella caught up with them.

She stayed a cautious two meters behind them on their way up and moved even further away, when they were back on ground level.

"What now?" Ella asked in a low voice, afraid that the limp bodies of the teenage werewolves might come to life if she spoke too loudly.

The three men all turned to look at her and it was obvious to all of them that she was keeping her distance. Not that they blamed her, but it still hurt Scott and Isaac.

"We have to get Boyd and Cora to Derek's apartment. The sun is up so they won't turn again, but we have to get them out of sight." Scott explained and tightened his grip on Boyd, who was slipping between his hands.

"Wait. Boyd? Isn't he one of the missing teenagers?" Ella questioned in surprise and tried to get a closer look at the dark-skinned boy by stepping forward.

"Yes. Scott will explain later. But we have to go before someone comes and sees us." Mr. Argent told her and pulled the group down the hall towards the exit.

"What about the girl? Erica?" Ella continued, closing in on the group walking in front of her without really noticing.

Scott had mentioned Boyd and the name Cora, but not Erica. Was she still missing? Was she a werewolf as well? Had Beacon Hills been crawling with werewolves all this time and no one had noticed?

"She's dead." Isaac informed her in a heavy voice and Ella's mouth fell open in shock.

She hadn't expected that Boyd and Erica would be found alive after so many months, and had found it tragic. But she didn't know the two kids and honestly hadn't thought much about them.

Now, knowing that they were involved in all of this alongside Scott – and she had to face it, Stiles as well – it left her at a loss for words and sadder than she thought she could feel for someone she didn't know.

The silence that wrapped itself around the small group after Isaac's words felt constricting, and Ella realized she wasn't the only one, who could think of nothing to say.

"I'm sorry." she finally managed and fell into step with Isaac, who tried his best not to look at her.

Ella felt like reaching out to touch him, but the girl in his arms, Cora, made her pause and put some distance between them again. She knew it was irrational, but she was afraid the girl might wake up and bite off her hand if she came too close.

"So who is she?" Ella asked with a gesture towards Cora and hoped to distract the others, and herself, from the loss of Erica.

The only image Ella had of the girl was from a missing poster, but she couldn't help but picture the blonde girl lying broken and battered on the floor; her eyes unseeing.

"Cora, Derek's sister." Scott told her with a look at the girl as well and Ella frowned in confusion. Didn't all the Hales except for Derek, his older sister and uncle die in the fire?

"We don't know how she's here either. We haven't really had the chance to ask her."

Ella could tell Scott was trying hard to keep the mood light and ease some of the tension between them, but she found it difficult to follow his lead. Not because she didn't want to, she really did, but she was too distracted by everything else going on around her.

Subconsciously, she had already started finding connections between everything that had happened over the last months and the existence of the supernatural. There were still a lot of missing pieces in the puzzle, but inexplicable things had begun slowly making sense to her.

"Are all the Hales werewolves?" she asked, when her mind suddenly pieced another thing together.

Derek was a werewolf and so was Cora. They had found animal DNA on the body of Laura Hale, which had exonerated Derek. But maybe it hadn't meant that she had been killed by an animal. Maybe she had been an animal.

Then there was the whole case of Kate Argent burning down the Hale house and its occupants. Kate, who was Chris Argent's sister. Chris Argent, who knew about werewolves and, who her father thought, was a hunter.

Maybe a hunter of werewolves? Had Kate been as well? But if Chris hunted werewolves, why was he now helping them?

"Yeah. They're born with it. I got bit." Scott revealed and glanced out the corner of his eye at Ella, who abruptly stopped walking.

"Who bit you?"

Her voice was calm as she stood in the middle of the hallway with her eyes fixed at Scott, but he could hear her heart beating fast and her hands were clenched into fists on either side of her. She was angry.

"We don't have time for this now, Scott." Chris reminded the young werewolf and Scott watched Ella for a long moment before nodding.

The sun was rising, bathing the hallway in a soft, golden light, and the first teachers would be arriving soon enough. They couldn't very well be found carrying around two unconscious teenagers, one of which had been reported missing for months.

"Was it Derek?" Ella questioned in a dangerously low voice and a building rage made her eyes shine like steel. "Because if it was Derek, I swear to all that is holy I will-"

"It wasn't Derek. I promise." Scott told her hurriedly and Ella slowly uncurled her fingers, exhaling at the same time.

Scott doubted that she would react much better to hearing that it was Derek's uncle, who had done it, but he couldn't worry about that now.

"You will tell me later, who did it. No sneaking around it this time." Ella said with a pointed finger and Scott nodded in agreement. He didn't get a chance to reply with words as Chris was moving forwards once more.

"Wait!" Ella called out before they had barely taken two steps and Chris couldn't hold back the long sigh that escaped him.

At this pace they would never make it out of the school. Especially not if the older Stilinski sibling kept demanding explanations. She was like her brother. Or maybe her brother was like her. Either way, it was tearing on Chris' patience.

"I need my things. I'll go grab them and meet you outside."

Ella left the others without waiting for a response and strode quickly out of their sight around a corner. Her back hit the wall as she stopped to breathe, closing her eyes in an attempt to regain control over her shaking limbs.

She didn't know when the shaking had started. Maybe the moment she had realized that someone had bitten Scott. Someone had done this to him, hurt him and brought him in a danger she couldn't yet comprehend. And they had dragged Stiles into it as well.

 _Breathe, Ella. Just breathe. You can do this. Stay calm and breathe. Scott is alive, Stiles is alive, they're all alive. Be strong._

Taking another deep breath Ella got back on her feet and continued down the hall towards the classroom, where her things were. She tried hard to ignore the treacherous voice inside her head, reminding her that someone, Erica, had died and how easily couldn't that have been Scott?

Ella's hands shook as she gathered her things in her shoulder bag, leaving behind the paper on which she had written the questions for the pop quiz. She could feel her heart pumping against her ribcage as she placed pen against paper to write Jennifer a message and paused; uncertain what that message should be.

'Had to leave because family emergency. Will try to be back at 10 for class. Call me if needed.'

Ella studied the words she had written down and hoped that her handwriting was readable. It definitely looked like the words had been written by someone in a rush and Ella placed the note on top of Jennifer's things.

She would have to make up the specifics of that family emergency later.

Her feet moved on their own as she exited the room with her bag and jacket in hand, and rushed down the hallway to get to the parking lot.

The same three names echoed inside Ella's mind and she could feel a headache slowly forming; a dull pain in her temples.

 _Stiles, Scott, Erica. Stiles, Scott, Erica. Stiles, Scott, Erica._

What if Stiles had been bitten? What if Scott had gone missing and died? What if the person who killed Erica was coming for Scott and Stiles? What if, what if, what if.

Ella had to lean against a tree outside and remind herself to breathe once again. It was like reality overwhelmed her in intervals. Like she moved in and out of a dream, like she was clearing up her mind only to send it reeling into the insanity of the situation.

A hand on her arm made her open her eyes and look into the face of a worried Scott. He looked so human, so much like the boy she had known for years. But he wasn't. This Scott had glowing yellow eyes and probably the fangs to go with them as well. He was a-

 _No. No, Scott is not a monster. Scott is Scott. Scott will always be Scott._

"Are you okay?"

"No."

"Stiles just called." Scott said after a long moment of uneasy silence between them and Ella's heart jumped in her throat.

Was it going to be like this all the time from now on? Always worrying whether Stiles had fallen prey to some rabid werewolf just because someone mentioned his name?

"Did you tell him?" she asked without elaborating what she meant. Scott knew.

"No. I couldn't. He found something and sounded a bit like he was freaking out. I didn't want to give him a panic attack by telling him about you." Scott admitted with a sheepish look, but the suddenly determined look in Ella's eyes quickly caught his attention.

"Where is he?"

Ella was already walking away and towards her car, leaving Scott to follow her. He had to go back to Derek's car and help Isaac with Boyd and Cora, but he also wanted to stay with Ella, so he could explain everything.

Scott was beyond relief that she, despite her initial shock and fright, still talked to him and he didn't want her to leave and change her mind. But he also knew he couldn't stop her. Especially not from finding and talking to Stiles.

"At the hospital."

"What? Why?"

Ella's eyes were wide with fear as she turned around to look at him, and Scott almost collided with her. Her hands reached out for him to help him regain his balance and she didn't let go of his arms even after he did so.

"My mom called him to show him something there." Scott quickly explained and Ella visibly exhaled in relief.

She had always been easily worried, but Scott had a feeling that was only going to get worse after what she had just learned.

"Melissa knows?" Ella then questioned even though she already knew the answer and Scott nodded in reply. "Makes sense, I guess. How did she take it?"

"At first she wouldn't speak to me. But we're good now." Scott told her with half a smile, but there was a certain vulnerability in his brown eyes that made Ella pull him into a hug.

"I'm sorry that this happened to you." she muttered into his ear, standing on her toes to properly reach her arms around his neck. She felt Scott's arms around her back tighten for a moment before he let her go.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. This is not okay. I'm scared shitless about all of this, but what scares me the most is that you aren't."

"Most of the time I don't have time to be scared. If I don't do something then people get hurt."

"Scott, you're only seventeen. That shouldn't be your responsibility. You're a teenager, not a superhero."

"I know. But I can't just _not_ do anything. I have to help."

"Yeah, Captain America, I know." Ella sighed and sent the werewolf a small smile. This was all so fucked up, but there was nothing she could do to change it.

Isaac calling for Scott's help interrupted their talk and Scott looked conflicted about letting Ella go to the hospital alone like he knew she would. Ella could sense his undecidedness and took a decision for him.

"I need to talk to my brother, Scott. Alone. But meet us at the hospital and then you can both explain all of this to me."

"Okay. I'll be quick." Scott replied after a moment of hesitation and shot Ella one last smile before running back to Isaac.

Ella watched him go, half expecting him to phase into an actual wolf in the middle of a stride, but nothing happened. Instead Scott made it over to Isaac, who was waiting outside Derek's car, and got into the driver's seat. Ella couldn't see Mr. Argent anywhere and figured he for some reason had left the boys on their own.

She waited until they had driven off before she got into her own car; her hands only slightly trembling as she inserted the key into the ignition.

 _I'm okay. I can do this._

She could. She had to. She did.

Ella made it to the Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital in less than 15 minutes and hurried inside, leaving her bag and jacket in her car. Goosebumps rose on her arms as the thin material of her long-sleeved V-neck blouse didn't provide her much protection against the morning cold.

The sun was slowly rising over Beacon Hills, awakening its inhabitants, but the clock was yet to strike 7:30 AM and the sun's rays generated barely any heat.

Ella rubbed her hands over her arms as she entered the hospital and made her way to the desk, where she knew she was most likely to find Melissa McCall. Scott hadn't told her exactly where to find Stiles in the hospital, but Melissa had to know.

The hospital seemed to be waken up as well as patients started roaming the halls, and nurses and doctors appeared either fresh from a good night of sleep or tired after a long night shift.

Ella managed to find (a tired) Melissa after asking around and caught the nurse coming out of a patient's room on the second floor. The woman looked startled to see Ella suddenly standing in front of her, and her deep brown eyes quickly glided over Ella as if she was checking for injuries.

"Ella, what are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, but I need to find Stiles."

Ella noticed a flicker of surprise in the older woman's face, but it was quickly hidden by a frown. Melissa briefly glanced around as if checking whether anybody was listening and then turned her attention back to Ella with a regretful smile.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, but he isn't here. Is something wrong?"

"Melissa, I know." Ella sighed when it became clear the nurse was lying. There was something here that Stiles wanted to show Scott, so he wouldn't just have left.

A series of emotions crossed Melissa's face; the most prominent being confusion and disbelieve. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again.

"Know what?"

"I _know_."

Finally being sure about what Ella actually _knew_ , Melissa dragged her into an empty room and didn't let go of her hand as they stopped just inside.

"How? When?" Melissa questioned and looked Ella over once more for any signs of bites or claws. Her voice was strong, but so much worry poured out of her as well.

"Half an hour ago. I was at the school, when I heard some noise. A man and woman appeared and tried attacking me. They had fangs and glowing eyes. Scott, Mr. Argent and Derek Hale were suddenly there and they saved me. Mr. Argent told me that they were… that they were werewolves."

"Oh my God." Melissa breathed and pulled Ella into a hug, which made the younger girl close her eyes as tears pressed against her eyelids.

For some reason Ella always got a bit emotional hugging Melissa and with everything else piling on top of that, it was hard to keep herself collected.

As Melissa's hand cradled the back of her head Ella leaned her forehead against the woman's shoulder, willing her tears away. She knew that if she first begun she wouldn't stop again. Taking a deep breath, Ella pulled away and sent Melissa a wavering smile.

"How are you so calm about this?" Melissa asked and studied the younger woman curiously.

She still wasn't proud of her reaction to finding out what her son had turned into, but no one could blame her for being scared. And Ella, almost getting attacked by two werewolves, should be terrified.

"Trust me, I'm not. But it sort of just comes to me in waves. Like when reality spills into a dream and you suddenly wake up. I don't think I'm entirely awake yet." Ella tried to explain, but didn't know if it made any sense.

"It's okay. You need time, Ella. Your world's just been turned upside-down. Just give it time to settle in."

"I know. That doesn't make it any less overwhelming right now."

"Does Stiles know?"

"No. He called Scott and was apparently freaking out already, so Scott couldn't tell him. He needed to show Scott something?"

"He does and Stiles seems to think it's important." Melissa told with a sigh and lead Ella back out of the room.

"You know what it is?" Ella questioned as she followed the nurse down the hall to where, she figured, Stiles was.

"He tried explaining it to me, but it doesn't make sense. Of course, stranger things have happened in Beacon Hills."

"Do I want to know?"

"Not now, you don't. Now you go talk to your brother. I'll send Scott here, when he comes."

"Wait, why are we here?" Ella asked with a confused look at the plate beside the door, naming the room 'Autopsy West'. Melissa immediately hushed her and Ella repeated her question in a whisper.

"Wait, why are we here?"

"Stiles is in there." Melissa told in a low voice and glanced around the hall to make sure that none of her colleagues were nearby. She then looked back at Ella, whose eyes had widened comically.

"Why?!" Ella whisper-shouted and Melissa shot her a warning glare.

"He'll tell you. But you don't tell _anyone_ about this, okay? I like my job, but that will very much change if someone finds out about this."

"I promise. Just another secret to keep after today."

"Don't be too hard on him. It's been tough for him keeping all of this from you." Melissa said in a softer voice than before and squeezed Ella's arm one last time before ushering her inside the autopsy room.

The noises filling the hospital halls muted as soon as the door closed behind Ella and she was left in a cold, white room with her little brother. He was standing with his back to her, looking down at a body lying on one of the steel tables and covered by white linen.

Stiles turned his head to look over his shoulder, when he heard the door open and close, and whipped the rest of his body around in an ungraceful twirl, when he saw his sister standing just inside the room.

"El? What are you- what are you doing here?" Stiles stammered and quickly stepped towards her, only to stop when he saw the look in her eyes; confusion, sadness, anger.

"I know, Stiles." she told him calmly, but her eyebrows were gathered in a deep frown and Stiles felt his heart plummet to his stomach. Did she know _know_?

"Know what? What do you mean?" he tried questioning instead of acknowledging the truth. Maybe it was something else. It could be. It had to be. He wasn't ready.

"Please don't do this. Just… tell me the truth." Ella pleaded as she took a step towards him, but the look in her eyes was demanding more than hopeful. Like she was ordering him to be honest with her. For once.

"Ella, I can't." Stiles finally told her and looked down at his hands as anger shone from his sister's dark eyes.

He couldn't tell her. He literally couldn't tell her. The words wouldn't leave his mouth. His lips and tongue wouldn't form the words. And now his sister hated him. She might believe him, but she hated him.

"Scott is a werewolf." Ella spoke in a flat voice as if she didn't really understand the implications of what she had just said.

Stiles looked up in surprise at her statement. The words leaving his sister's mouth, transforming her comforting and warm voice into something detached and cold, were not new to him, but it sounded unreal coming from Ella.

"You're angry." Stiles observed, when he finally forced himself to meet Ella's gaze and saw how it had turned hard with ire.

"No. I'm pissed."

"I'm sorry, El, but I couldn't tell you. I was trying to keep you safe, keep you out of all of this. This is all so fucked-up and I didn't want-" Stiles rambled in an attempt to explain himself, but was interrupted by Ella pulling him towards her and into a hug.

"Stiles, I'm not angry at you. Never you." Ella whispered into his ear in a soft voice that made his eyes wet with unshed tears, and Stiles hugged her closer to him; not willing to let go anytime soon.

"I'm pissed that someone or something did this to Scott. And to you. I'm pissed that it meant you had to keep secrets from me, that you had to carry this around without being able to tell me.

"I'm pissed that you thought you had to keep me safe, when I should be the one keeping you safe. And I'm pissed that I had to go find my little brother in an autopsy room, because some shit that I don't understand happened.

"But I'm not angry at you, Stiles. I'm angry at the world, at whatever fate that led you here to stand alone in a room filled with dead bodies." Ella finished as she held onto her brother and felt him slowly relax in her embrace. He was still squeezing the air out of her, but she didn't mind.

"Just…" she added and pulled away from Stiles, who quickly wiped a stray tear off his face. "No more secrets, okay? I want to know everything."

"I promise we'll tell you everything." Stiles assured her with a smile tugging in the corner of his mouth and his brown eyes were clear of tears once more. "Where's Scott by the way? He must have told you I was here."

"He had to help Isaac with Boyd and that other girl. Derek's sister."

"Cora." Stiles told her and then frowned, when he realized Ella hadn't told him how she had found out. "What happened? Did Boyd and Cora attack you?"

It was like his worst nightmare come true. His clueless sister coming face to face with werewolves and having no idea what to do or what they are, because he hadn't told her about them. Because he thought her ignorance would protect her, but instead it was the dead of her.

"I was at the school this morning with Jennifer. She went down to the storage and I heard some noise in the hallway. Then Boyd and Cora appeared and tried to attack me. Their eyes were glowing and they had fangs. They were literally growling at me. But Scott, Mr. Argent and Derek came and distracted them. Then a lot of things just happened and I can hardly remember half of it. Most of it still feels like a dream."

"Or a freaking nightmare." Stiles muttered to himself and brushed a hand over his hair.

His words sounded familiar to Ella and something clicked inside her mind, making her grab his hands to keep them still.

"I'm okay, Stiles. I'm scared as hell, but okay."

"I thought it would keep you safe not knowing. Then you could finish college and maybe get a job in San Francisco. You didn't have to get involved in all of this." Stiles told her as he looked down at their connected hands and then into Ella's eyes.

Losing his sister wasn't something Stiles knew if he could survive. So he'd rather have her living somewhere else, far away, and rarely see her than someday having to come into this room and look at her pale, lifeless face.

"Guess I ruined those plans, didn't I?" Ella said with a scrunch up of her nose and Stiles managed a teasing smile.

"Typical you, really."

"Hey! I'm a brilliant plan-keeper. Maybe it was your planning skills that were lacking."

"No way, I always make the plans and figure things out. I don't need to be a werewolf, when I got this." Stiles objected and pointed at his temple to underline what he meant.

His smile disappeared, when he saw Ella's fall and inwardly cursed himself for reminding her why she was here. But he would have to sit down and explain everything to her sooner or later. He just wished it was later and Scott was there.

"How come you haven't been bit?" Ella asked to his surprise and he wondered how much Scott had already told her. "Scott wouldn't tell me who bit him, but I know the two of you. It could have been you, couldn't it? You could have been bitten instead of Scott."

"I guess. I don't know." Stiles said after a moment of contemplation and scratched the back of his neck.

Not that he hadn't thought about it before, but as of now he was pretty satisfied with being human and didn't want to change that. Yes, he had hesitated, when Peter had offered to bite him, but he had never since regretted declining.

"No offense to Scott, but please don't turn into a werewolf, okay?"

"I won't." Stiles promised with a smile and hoped to God that it was a promise he could keep.

"Now, I have a thousand and one questions, but number one is: why are you here?" Ella asked as she moved around Stiles and warily looked at the bodies hiding underneath the white sheets. There were only two, but it was also two too many.

"I think someone is sacrificing people." Stiles told her slowly as if he wanted to make sure that she could keep up.

Ella turned to look at him with sceptic look before softening her features. She had to be open-minded about all of this. There was so much she didn't know after all.

"Why do you think that?"

Her willingness to hear him out almost made Stiles smile, but one look at Heather's covered body stopped him. He would have to tell Ella about her. Ella would have to start her entry into the supernatural world in the midst of dead bodies.

"The way they were killed. At first we thought Boyd and Cora had done it, but then Melissa noticed that not only had their throat been slashed, but someone had also strangled them with some sort of rope _and_ bashed in their heads."

"That's what I call overkill." Ella muttered to herself and glanced between the covered bodies. "It was done on both of them?"

Stiles nodded.

"And it couldn't 'just' be another serial killer like Matt Daehler?"

"It could be. But the way they were killed, it's called a threefold death. It wasn't just random. And there's one more thing." Stiles explained and then paused, unable to continue.

"What?" Ella urged him with a hand of his arm and Stiles watched her for a long moment before actually speaking.

"There's a girl missing and I think they're gonna find her dead. Killed in the same way as the two others. She was a virgin and so are these two."

Ella's mouth fell open in shock over Stiles' words. She didn't know if it was because she actually believed him or if it was just too ludicrous. Not that she thought her brother was lying, but someone sacrificing virgins was too much for her.

"How do you know they're virgins?" she finally asked and Stiles heaved a long sigh.

"Lydia found that guy at the public swimming pool. He had a purity ring."

"Wait, _Lydia_ found him? How? Does she know about all of this?"

"We don't know how she found him and yes, she knows. I think she might be… something."

"Something?"

"Yeah, that's all I know for now."

"So Scott and Isaac are werewolves, Lydia find dead bodies. Anything else I should know?"

"Allison is a trained werewolf hunter."

"Of course she is." Ella said, heaving a sigh before looking back at the dead bodies. So much seemed to be going on around her and she had to focus on one thing at a time to understand any of it. "What about the other two?"

"The missing girl was out in the woods with her girlfriend, when she disappeared. Her girlfriend, Caitlyn, was almost attacked by Cora and told the police that, so they brought her here for a tox screen. I talked to her and she told me that Emily was a virgin."

"And the last one?" Ella asked and locked her eyes on the body Stiles was desperately ignoring. She looked at her brother in question and the look in his eyes made her heart jump to her throat.

"The last one is Heather."

Ella took a step back, almost bumping into the table with the other body, as Stiles pulled the sheet off Heather's face and Ella's stomach turned.

 _No._

* * *

 **So Ella finally found out. I wasn't sure about how I wanted her to react to it, but think it turned out alright.**

 **In other news, HAVE YOU GUYS SEEN THE NEW TEEN WOLF SEASON 6 TRAILER? I can't believe it's the last season, I'm really gonna miss the show. I did see it coming, though. And I'd rather the finish while it's still good and it doesn't become like the absolute mess that is Vampire Diaries. Plus, I'd rather they end the whole thing than start killing off (more) main characters because they're leaving the show. Either way, I'm really excited for the last season. Especially because of Stydia:D It's gonna happen, guys. It's been 84 years and it's finally gonna happen.**


	7. Though this be madness

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

" _Though this be madness, yet there's method in't."_

William Shakespeare, _Hamlet_

* * *

"Okay, so one more time without all the details." Ella told her brother and Scott; hoping to simplify everything she had just heard.

They had been at it for an hour now and even though a lot of it made sense in a way it shouldn't – because a giant lizard somehow died and turned into a werewolf, and werewolves and giant lizards existed – Ella was still confused.

Stiles' rambling and Scott's frequent comments didn't help her much in trying to understand all of it either. Scott seemed eager to assure her that everything was not as bad as it sounded – because it sounded really bad – and Stiles kept ranting about how he had known who the bad guy was all along.

On top of that Ella couldn't stop thinking about how any of these horrible things could have happened to her brother and she would have been none the wiser. Someone had killed Heather and Stiles could have been the one lying on the cold table; dead and gone.

Heather Custer was dead. The young girl Ella had known for years was killed only because she was a virgin. If Stiles' theory was correct, that is. It seemed too incredible that someone was sacrificing people. But her disbelieve was overshadowed by the fact that her brother too easily could have been sacrificed in Heather's stead.

They had left the autopsy room and gone to Scott's house as soon as he had arrived and Stiles had explained his theory about the sacrifices. Once again Stiles had lifted the linen that covered Heather and Ella had looked away.

That didn't stop Heather's pale face from appearing inside her mind every time she closed her eyes for more than a couple of seconds. Ella very much doubted that she would be able to get any sleep that night.

There was also only an hour till she had to be at the school for her class with Jennifer, but she still hadn't decided whether to go or not. Maybe it would be a nice distraction, but on the other hand she would be too distracted herself to actually help. And the death of a family friend seemed like a decent excuse to stay away.

But using Heather's death as an excuse to wallow in self-pity over everything that had just been revealed to her just made her hate herself. And she wanted to check up on Jennifer to see how her friend was handling her encounter with Derek.

"Okay, so Peter bit Scott and turned him into a werewolf. Then he bit Lydia, but nothing happened. Except for the fact that she somehow found a dead body last night and has no idea how. Anyway, Peter killed Allison's aunt, Kate, and Derek killed Peter and became the alpha."

Stiles stopped pacing the floor to look at his sister questioningly as if asking whether she was still following him. He took the concentrated look in her eyes as a yes.

He sort of hated leaving out all of the details, because that was usually where you found the devil, but he wasn't going to argue with his sister right now. Not when she was being so relatively calm about it all. And didn't hate him for keeping it all from her.

"Derek bit Jackson, who turned into a kanima and was controlled by Matt, who made him kill a lot of people."

"The kanima was the lizard, right?" Ella questioned because her mind had sort of blanked, when they had started talking about a giant, assassinating lizard running around in Beacon Hills.

Werewolves she could deal with, but the thought of a human taking the shape of a large reptilian made her skin crawl.

"Yes. So while the kanima was killing people, Derek bit Erica, Boyd and Isaac so he could have a pack. Somehow Peter used Lydia to come back to life and while all of that was going on Allison's grandfather, Gerard, came to town and wanted to kill all the werewolves."

"Gerard, your creepy principal, who was very sick and actually wanted to become a werewolf himself?" Ella supplied hesitantly, making her comment come out as a question.

She had gotten angry, when Stiles had told her that the old man had been the one to kidnap and beat him on his birthday. Then shocked when she learned that the confrontation with Gerard had been the one Ella had talked Stiles into going to. And in the end proud of the way Scott had tricked the werewolf hunter.

"And he brainwashed Allison into wanting to kill Derek and his pack, which she almost did." Stiles added with a sweeping gesture of his arm and Scott looked away uncomfortably. His break-up with Allison made much more sense to Ella now.

"Because Derek bit her mom, because she was trying to kill Scott." she continued and kept her eyes on her brother, who shot his friend a concerned look.

"Exactly."

"For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo." Ella commented sadly and sent Scott a sympathetic look to which he managed a small smile in response.

"Really? Romeo and Juliet? Isn't that a bit obvious?" Stiles asked with an unimpressed frown and his arms crossed in front of him.

Ella narrowed her eyes at him and bit back her own snarky retort. Her brother was tired and irritable after having been awake most of the night, so his sense of tact was not on its highest.

Lydia had called Stiles just after midnight and he had sneaked out of the house without waking Ella. Their father had already been called to work after a young girl called the police about being attacked by a strange animalistic human-like creature. The same animalistic human-like creature that had tried attacking Ella.

After giving his statement to the police and following Lydia home to make sure she was safe despite the police escort, he had gone come back home. But according to himself he had only fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning and had been woken by Melissa's call an hour later; just after Ella had left for work.

Stiles had left for the hospital thinking his sister was still sleeping safely in her bed. That she was out of Cora and Boyd's reach.

"And now…" Ella said with a look at Scott, asking him to continue the story and ignoring Stiles all together.

"Erica and Boyd were taking by an alpha called Deucalion, and last night we found them. But Erica was dead and Derek's sister, Cora, was somehow with Boyd." Scott told from his seat on his bed and his head was slowly sinking underneath his shoulders.

If Stiles was tired then Scott had to be exhausted. He had more stamina, of course, being a werewolf, but he had also spent the whole night, without a minute of sleep, chasing two murderous werewolves.

"And this Deucalion guy is the alpha of a pack of other alphas?"

She didn't really understand that part. Without knowing much about werewolves, except for what Scott had told her, it seemed to her like it was against their nature to be an alpha, but at same time have an alpha.

"Yes. We're not completely sure why they're here. Derek wouldn't tell us much. He thinks it's his problem alone."

"But what if they're the ones killing people? Doesn't that make it our problem as well?"

Scott and Stiles didn't miss Ella's use of "our" and shared a look of concern. They should have known better than to think she would stay out of it now that she knew.

"Those murders weren't very werewolf-y." Stiles replied and backed up to sit beside his best friend on the bed.

He wanted to be wrong about the sacrifices, because if he wasn't it meant that they had even more to deal with on top of a pack of alpha werewolves.

Ella frowned at her brother's use of the word "werewolf-y", but didn't comment on it.

"We don't know if they're sacrifices either." Scott argued without much conviction in his voice and Stiles, to Ella's surprise, only sighed in response.

"What about dad?" Ella questioned and broke the weary silence that had stretched between them.

"What about him?" Stiles asked confused, but couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

He had already told Ella that their father didn't know and she had taken the news with silent acceptance, but he also knew that talk wasn't over and had been waiting for her to bring it up again.

"Shouldn't we tell him about your theory? It might help with the investigation."

"You think he would believe us?"

Ella fell silent as she had no idea whether or not their father would even consider something so crazy.

"I don't know." Ella sighed in the end and started cracking her knuckles without thinking about what she was doing. It was a strange way to relieve the tension in her body, but it helped the tiniest bit.

"But you believe us." Stiles said hesitantly with his eyes fixed on her as if he expected her to suddenly freak out and deny the possibility of everything they had told her.

"Yes, Stiles, I believe you. Of course I do." she told him with a reassuring smile that he returned with a relieved one of his own. "It's just a lot to take in. But it actually makes more sense than all the lies and fake explanations."

"We wanted to tell you." Scott added sheepishly and a look, which reminded her of that of a puppy, filled his brown eyes. Ella felt like hugging him again, but remained seated and nodded understandingly.

"And you should have. But I also get why you didn't. It doesn't matter anymore. I know now and that's what's important. And from now on you tell me everything. No more secrets, okay?"

"We will, I promise." Scott replied with a smile and she knew that he meant it.

Ella could tell that Scott was just as relieved as Stiles was by how calmly she was handling everything. Especially after her initial unwillingness to get too close to him. The fear in her eyes, when she discovered what he was, had broken him just as it had, when his mother found out.

But just as Stiles had, when Scott had told him about the bite that had healed overnight, she was quick to accept that werewolves did in fact exist. Maybe because it really did make more sense logically than all the cover-up stories they had been telling her.

"Thank you." Ella told him as she got up from the office chair she had been sitting on and the two boys rose from the bed as well. "One last thing. What pack do you belong to?"

"None, actually. Peter is not an alpha anymore and I don't want to be a part of Derek's pack. I'm an omega, I guess." Scott shrugged and didn't seem that bothered about it.

"Well, you got me, buddy." Stiles said as he placed his hand on Scott's shoulder and the two exchanged a smile.

"And me." Ella interjected with a serious look in her eyes, reminding both of them that they could trust her with everything and that she expected them to.

"And there's Lydia and Allison." Stiles continued with a reassuring squeeze of Scott's shoulder and Ella smiled at the boys.

"It seems like you're not entirely pack-less after all."

"No. I'm not." Scott spoke with a widening smile that made him look less like a burdened man and more like the teenager he was.

"Well, I gotta go home and take a shower before I head back to the school." Ella said after a few moments of meaningful silence between them and moved towards the door.

"You're going back to school?" Stiles questioned with a frown and Ella could tell that he was starting worry about her once more.

"I have a class to teach. Or at least help teach. And I need to make sure that Jennifer is okay."

"Derek wouldn't hurt her." Scott defended the other werewolf and could easily tell that Ella still didn't trust Derek. It had possibly become worse after what she had found out about him.

"I know, Scott. But she was almost attacked by Boyd and Cora, and Derek was pretty much covered in blood when he found her, so she's bound to be just a little shocked. I just want to see how she's doing. Without revealing anything, of course."

While Stiles still looked reluctant to let her leave, Scott nodded and she opened the door to leave the bedroom. Ella was halfway through, when she looked over shoulder at the boys.

"And the two of you, get some sleep. I'll excuse your absence from school."

Ella sent them one last smile before closing the door behind her. Alone she felt the smile quickly fall and took two steps at a time down the stairs. Her smile hadn't been insincere, but she was tired and overwhelmed, and a headache had started pounding in her temples over an hour ago.

She did her best to concentrate only on her driving on her way home and focused her thoughts on simple tasks as undressing and adjusting the temperature of the water before stepping into the shower.

If she started thinking too much about what had been going on in her brother's life the last few months, Ella felt like she would go insane with "what ifs" and she would end up sitting in the corner of the shower, crying.

Because those "what ifs" were the only things her mind kept circling back to and they scared the shit out of her.

So instead Ella managed to worry herself sick about Jennifer, even though her involvement with the supernatural world had been by chance and by any luck a one-time thing, and she was safe from harm.

It was exactly 10 PM, when Ella stepped into the class room and Jennifer had only just started the day's lesson. Everyone's eyes turned to Ella as she stepped inside and she smiled apologetically before sneaking over to sit on a chair in the corner.

She did her best to concentrate on what Jennifer was telling the students, but instead found herself carefully studying the teacher's body language. Jennifer looked exactly the same as when she last saw her and Ella frowned at her back.

Ella wasn't sure what she had expected, when she walked into the class room, because Jennifer running around screaming wasn't it, but the teacher's calm exterior surprised her.

One good look at Ella and anyone would be able to tell that something was wrong, but Jennifer didn't show any signs of being in shock or haven been afraid.

 _It's because I can't see her face. And it's not like I'm an expert in reading body language. Maybe she is just better at hiding her emotions. It's not like she could break out in tears in front of the students or tell them she almost got attacked by werewolves._

"Ella, can I talk to you outside?"

"Hm?" Ella responded and her head snapped towards the voice to find Jennifer suddenly standing beside her.

She hadn't even noticed that the class had gone silent and she glanced at the students, who were now busy reading in their text books or whispering among themselves.

"Of course." she then quickly told Jennifer and followed her out of the room.

They paused just outside the door and Ella's eyes searched the teacher for any signs of the shock she must have experienced just a couple of hours earlier.

"Are you okay?" Ella asked without thinking about how to explain why such a question was necessary and Jennifer blinked in confusion.

"I was actually going to ask you the same thing." she said with a worried look in her eyes and tilted her head in question. "Did everything turn out alright?"

"What do you mean?"

Ella felt her heart skip a beat as she for a second thought that Jennifer knew how she had spent her morning and what was really going on. But unless Derek had told her everything, she couldn't possibly know.

"Your family emergency." Jennifer reminded her with a small frown and Ella let out a small sigh she hoped didn't sound like relief.

"Yeah, it uhm…" she began, but realized it hadn't actually turned out alright at all and calmed a hand through her damp curls. She hadn't bothered blow-drying her hair completely after her shower.

"You've heard about the girl, who went missing a few days ago? Heather Custer? She's a junior at another high school in the county."

Jennifer's eyes immediately showed signs of recognition, but it took her a moment to nod as if she was unsure on how to respond.

"Her body was found last night. She had been murdered." Ella told with a heavy voice and had to gulp to remove the lump in her throat.

It was the first time she had said it out loud and she bit the inside of her cheek to stop her lower lip from trembling. In reaction to the news Jennifer's eyes widened in shock and her hand reached up to cover her mouth.

"You knew her?"

"She is- was a family friend. My brother used to play with her when they were kids."

"I'm so sorry, Ella." Jennifer said as she stepped forward and pulled Ella into a hug.

At first she was too surprised to respond to the embrace, but her hands then reached up to the rest lightly on Jennifer's back. When Ella stepped back a moment later she could feel a couple of tears run down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away with the palm of her hand.

She realized that in the midst of all the confusion and horror that was the revelation of the supernatural world, she hadn't even shed a single tear for the young girl until now.

"It just seems so meaningless. How sick do you have to be to kill a young girl like that?"

"Do the police know who did it?"

"I haven't talked to my dad yet, but I don't think so. But I hope they catch the psycho soon." Ella told and her last words were accompanied by a low hiss.

She could feel herself getting angry and were too busy recollecting herself to notice the dark look that crossed Jennifer's features. Ella took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the teacher, who was watching her with a pitiful look in her eyes.

"You should go home, Ella. You're not helping yourself or the students by being here. I can handle this and the rest of todays' classes myself." Jennifer told her in a soft voice that at the same time didn't leave any room for discussion.

Not that Ella wanted to argue with Jennifer. Actually she just wanted to go home and try to fall asleep. She didn't think the falling asleep part would actually be possible, but she really needed to crawl under the covers and stay in her bed for a few good hours.

"If you're sure then I won't argue." Ella sighed and managed to send Jennifer half a smile.

Her main reason for coming back to school had been her worry for Jennifer, but the teacher seemed completely untouched by the morning's events and Ella could only ask so many questions without revealing that she knew what had happened to Jennifer.

It still seemed strange to her that Jennifer could be so calm about the whole thing, but maybe she was in denial or just incredibly good at compartmentalizing her feelings. Either way it didn't seem like she needed Ella to help her through anything.

So without further deliberation Ella went home – after telling the school's office why Scott, Lydia and Stiles were absent for the whole day – changed into her pajamas consisting of black cotton shorts and a tank top, and got into her bed.

If she listened closely she could Stiles snore on the other side of the wall. But that wasn't what made it impossible for her to fall asleep. She still had so many questions about the supernatural world and more kept popping up.

Ella had asked some of them, but Stiles and Scott hadn't been able to give answers to all of them and she had only become more curious. After staring at the ceiling for an hour without being able to fall asleep, Ella got up and snuck into her brother's room.

Stiles had fallen asleep with all of his clothes on and on top of his covers. He was lying on his stomach with his arms spread out to either side and Ella noticed with a sigh that he still had his shoes on.

He barely even moved as Ella carefully pulled the shoes of his feet and pushed him a little towards the middle of the bed so he wouldn't fall out if he rolled over. She then grabbed the book she had given him on his birthday and quietly left the room.

Sitting on her bed and slowly browsing through the book, she suddenly remembered Stiles dumbfounded reaction after opening the gift. At the time Ella thought it was because her brother didn't really like the gift, but his reaction made much more sense to her now.

Stiles had simply been too shocked at receiving an encyclopedia over mythological creatures from his sister, who was supposed to know nothing about his involvement with the supernatural, to hide his surprise.

Ella admitted that it was kind of strange that she thought the book would make a good gift, but her father had somewhat guided her.

It was a coincidence that she had found the book, though, since she hadn't been looking for it. She had plans to buy him something else, but suddenly it was there and she couldn't not buy it.

 _Maybe it was fate._

Ella shook her head at thought and turned the pages to the section about kanimas. There wasn't much information about it except for a couple of comparisons to the werewolf and certainly nothing about it dying and coming back to life as a wolf.

She needed to get an overview of what she knew so far and found a blank notebook in a desk drawer. It was an old Christmas gift from her brother and was one of many blank notebooks she had lying around in her room.

In her junior year at high school she had had a minor obsession with finding beautiful notebooks and now had more than she could ever find the time to use. Some of them were even too pretty to use.

The one Stiles had given her had a simple blue hardback cover and on the front of it her brother had written 'May the force be with you always' with black ink. It was obvious from the messy handwriting that Stiles had only been around 11 years old, when he had given her the gift.

'Kanima', Ella wrote on top of the first page and then proceeded to write down everything she knew about that certain creature. After that followed the information Stiles and Scott had given her about Jackson Whittemore and then the name of some of his, or more correctly Matt Daehler's, victims.

It didn't escape her notice that Camden had been a part of the swim team Matt wanted killed. He had never told her about the incident where Matt almost drowned, but maybe he had been sworn to secrecy by his father.

Ella recognized some of the victims' names even though Camden had already left the swim team, when they started dating.

She also remembered the names of the dead deputies from the hostage situation at the Sheriff's Department. Most of them had at some point kept her and Stiles company at the station, when she was a kid.

When she had written down everything she knew about the kanima and how it had been involved in what had happened in Beacon Hills, Ella had filled out four A5 pages with small letters in cursive.

10 pages later she had also covered everything she knew about werewolves and those who had been identified as such.

Beside Derek's name she had drawn a question mark in parentheses, while an asterisk was by Peter Hale's name, referring to a note at the bottom of the page saying 'do not trust him'. She was yet to meet the man, but given what she had been told about him and the fact that he had been the one to bite Scott, she already hated him.

Ella had also made a small note about Erica and drawn a cross beside her name. Victoria and Kate Argent's names had been marked in the same way on the two pages about werewolf hunters.

Two hours into her note-taking, Ella found herself staring at an almost blank page, which only had a few words scribbled down on it. The top of the page read 'Lydia ?' and underneath were supernatural creatures written in bullet points:

'reaper (too grim haha)'  
'valkyrie (she brought the dead guy's soul to Valhalla?)'  
'banshee (wouldn't someone have heard her scream? not Irish)'  
'hellhound/black dog (not a dog, also not Sirius Black)'  
'nix (doesn't live in the sea but did find dead guy by the pool)'

Ella had no idea where she was going with all of her theories. Especially since they were barely that. She had basically just checked the book's word list and found the word 'death'. That had referred her to several different creatures and she had written down those which weren't too strange.

Not that the thought of Lydia being something like a reaper or Valkyrie wasn't strange. Ella wasn't even sure whether Lydia was supernatural or not. But the girl had survived a werewolf bite without turning into a werewolf and had, without knowing how, found a dead body.

Then there was her whole naked and afraid disappearance after the bite, Peter using her to come back from the dead and the fact that she was immune to kanima venom. Something no one else had shown signs of being so far.

Ella had a half a mind to just tear the page out, but added instead another point: 'connection to death or water?' It didn't bring her any clarity, but she felt like she had to write it down.

Maybe Lydia didn't have to be some sort of angel of death, but more like the little mermaid, who was looking for water and accidentally found a dead body. She had the hair to go with it.

Feeling tired Ella lay down on her bed and slowly read through the pages of her notebook. She was only halfway through the section about werewolves, when she fell asleep.

Ella didn't know how much time had passed when she woke up, but it had been a surprisingly dreamless sleep and she felt fairly well-rested. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't sleeping on top of her notebook and that the encyclopedia was gone from her bed as well.

Looking around her room she found the books on her desk and noticed, as she sat up, that someone had managed to pull the covers out from underneath her and drape them over her. She hoped it was Stiles since she wouldn't know how to explain what she had been doing if her father had taken a peek at her notes.

Her room was bathed in a soft light as the sun hadn't set yet, but she figured it was late in the afternoon. Reaching for her phone to check the time, all Ella's hand met was the smooth surface of her bedside table and she turned her head to find her iPhone missing.

She only knew one person, who would be shameless enough to take her phone, and that one person probably also knew her password, so Ella left her bed to go look for her brother.

Stiles was sitting by his desk, writing on his computer, when Ella entered the room with a small knock on the door. His dark eyes were hooded with sleep as he turned his gaze on her and, looking at his screen, Ella was surprised he had found the concentration to do school work.

"Is dad home?" she asked and glanced at her phone on Stiles' desk; oddly relieved that he had been the one snooping through her things. Stiles shook his head and grabbed her phone, offering it back to her.

"They found the last body." he informed her without having to elaborate what that meant.

They had found the girl, Emily, who had disappeared from the woods and by the look on Stiles' face, Ella could tell that his prediction about her murder had been right; she had been the third sacrifice.

All Ella could do was nod as she sat down on Stiles' bed and looked through her phone. She frowned when she noticed that a ten minute phone call with Ophelia was logged in under her calls from just an hour ago. What had Stiles and Ophelia talked about for ten minutes?

"You seriously think Lydia could be a Valkyrie?" Stiles questioned with a dubious frown, changing the topic before Ella could voice her curiosity about the phone call, and he clearly thought she was crazy.

It didn't surprise her that Stiles had looked through her notes and she simply shrugged in response. If werewolves existed then why not Valkyries as well?

"You have a better theory?"

"No, but I think we would have noticed if Lydia suddenly grew wings and flew to freaking Valhalla with dead bodies."

"Souls, not bodies." Ella objected and crossed her arms in front of her; not sure why she was arguing for a theory she didn't even believe in herself.

"Lydia is not a Valkyrie. I would know."

"How? Because you're the supernatural expert around here?"

"Yes."

Ella rolled her eyes at his blunt reply and then glanced down at her phone.

"So what did you and Ophelia talk about?" she asked innocently, lifting her phone to show what she was talking about and was taken aback, when a nervous expression crossed Stiles' face and he scratched the back of his neck.

"About that… There's something I haven't told you."

* * *

To say that the room went quiet, when Ella strode inside Ophelia's little coffee shop would be an over-dramatization. A couple of customers did look up, though, as the brunette pushed open the door with a little too much force and it banged against the door stopper on the floor.

There was just an hour to closing time and customers were few, so Ophelia was in the middle of cleaning the space under the counter, when a loud noise made her jump; her head almost bumping against the edge of the table counter.

Her jaw dropped, when she saw the cause of her surprise and met the fiery gaze of her best friend. She couldn't tell whether it was anger, worry or something third that was expressed on Ella's face, and Ophelia reached over the counter for the brunette's hands as soon as she got close enough.

"Oh my God, Ella. I'm so happy you're okay." Ophelia told her friend in a low voice and emphasized her words by squeezing Ella's hands.

She had nearly gotten a heart attack, when Stiles had answered his sister's phone and told Ophelia what had happened. But Ella knew now. There was no more hiding. Ophelia realized a second too late that Ella now also knew about her.

"You're a freaking fairy?!" Ella whisper-shouted and leaned over the counter as to make sure only Ophelia heard her; ignoring her friend's relief with seeing her safe and unharmed.

If it hadn't been for the fact that she knew werewolves and giant lizards existed, Ella would have called bullshit, when Stiles told her about Ophelia. No freaking way her best friend was a fairy. A fairy. With wings and magic dust and whatnot. No fucking way.

Ella had barely gotten dressed before leaving the house after those news; only throwing a zipped hoodie over her tank top before stepping into a pair of worn-out Converse. Long locks of hair had already fallen out of the messy bun she had gathered her unruly hair in on the top of her head.

All of that coupled with the probably crazy look in her eyes and Ella was certain she looked like she had escaped some institution. But she didn't care, because her friend was a freaking fairy.

Ophelia was taken aback for a moment and her blue eyes widened, when she managed to comprehend Ella's words. Quickly, she glanced around the coffee shop to see if anyone had heard, but only saw a couple of teenage boys ogling Ella's outfit.

With a gesture of her head Ophelia walked to the back room and waited for Ella to follow her. Taking a deep breath she turned around to find the brunette right behind her; watching Ophelia with her arms crossed in front of her.

"I'm sorry, El, but I couldn't tell you."

"Why not?" Ella questioned in a demanding tone of voice, which made Ophelia turn her gaze to the floor for a brief moment. The petite woman in front of her could be intimidating if she wanted to.

"It's a long story. But it wasn't safe and I kinda wasn't allowed to." Ophelia explained with a sheepish smile and Ella frowned at her words. As an afterthought Ophelia added, "And I wanted Stiles to tell you about what's been going on around here first."

"He told me you were in danger." Ella said and let her arms fall to her sides as a worried expression appeared on her face.

"I've always been, really. Which is why I couldn't tell even my closest friends about what I really am. My family knows because Talia told them, so they could keep me safe."

"Talia?" Ella inquired with a small tilt of her head and she couldn't figure out where she had heard that name before.

"Talia Hale. Derek's mother." Ophelia sighed and brazed herself for Ella's reaction. She didn't think finding out what Derek was and why he was hanging around Stiles would make Ella any less distrustful of the alpha.

"Derek's mother?!" Ella exclaimed, but managed to keep her voice down so none of the customers would hear. "I don't understand. How did she know about you?"

"My parents, my real parents, left me with the Hales to keep me safe. But I couldn't stay amongst a pack of werewolves, so she found a family that could adopt me. And when I was old enough she told me never to tell anyone my secret. She said it was too dangerous. So I kept quiet even after she died in the fire."

"Wait." Ella spoke and raised her right hand to silence a quiet Ophelia, so she could comprehend what she had just been told. "You're adopted? But you look so much like your mom."

"Yeah, a happy coincidence."

"And you knew, all this time, what Derek was?"

"Yes. Ever since I learned he was Talia's son, when we started in high school."

"You could've warned me before I went all over-protective sister on him last he was here." Ella said with a gesture towards the front of the shop and then dramatically lowered her voice, leaning closer to Ophelia. "He could have killed me."

"He wouldn't. You pissed him off, but he has enough self-control not to start killing people, who annoys him." Ophelia explained with a shake of her head and tried not to smile at her very serious friend. "How else would Stiles still be alive? And either way I would have stopped him."

"How do you know all of those things about Derek? Are you some sort of werewolf-whisperer?" Ella questioned curiously and looked almost gleeful at the prospect. "And how are you going to stop a freaking alpha werewolf from killing me? Do you have magical fairy super strength?"

Ophelia watched her friend in startled silence, uncertain about how to respond to Ella's assumptions, and apparently the brunette took that as confirmation. Her lips parted in surprise and her dark hazel eyes widened comically as she absorbed the new information about her friend.

"Wait, seriously? You have fairy super strength?"

"No." Ophelia quickly replied and Ella looked positively disappointed by the answer. "How would that even work?"

"How should I know? I'm not the fairy here. But the werewolf-whisperer thing is real?"

"Not really. It's difficult to explain, but I can sense whether or not someone's a werewolf and, if they are, kinda tell their mood and intentions." Ophelia explained hesitantly and realized that Ella was the first person to ever know this about her. The blonde cringed as she told her friend the last function of her powers. "And I might know how to manipulate them."

"Manipulate them? Like Jedi-style?" Ella questioned with an amazed expression on her face, looking like a child, who had just entered a candy store.

"No." Ophelia said with a roll of her eyes and smiled her friend's nerdiness. "It's more like through body language and tone of voice. If I appear relaxed they will instinctually calm down as well and not lose their temper. If I smile they will feel happy, if I feel threatened they will protect me and so on."

"So, you're like a dog trainer?" Ella concluded amusedly and bit her lower lip as to not laugh. With everything that had happened that day, the thought of her friend being able to do something like that was too funny.

"No!" Ophelia objected vehemently, but then couldn't help but laugh herself and threw up her arms in a giving up gesture. "I guess."

The two girls smiled at each other as a comfortable silence filled the space between them until Ella stepped forward and pulled her blonde friend into a hug. Ophelia was happy that Ella was taking everything so well and smiled brightly as she pulled away after a long moment.

Ophelia opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a voice coming from the front of the coffee shop by the counter and Ella vaguely registered a British accent.

"Excuse me?"

"Just a moment." Ella called out as she peaked around the corner to look at the new customer. The sight made her heart stop and then race painfully.

A blonde man in his early forties stood in front of the counter, glancing around casually as if he could see his surroundings despite the sunglasses he was wearing and the cane in his right hand. He was blind. And Ella had a horrible feeling she knew exactly who he was.

Turning back to look Ophelia she tried to remain calm, but the shocked look in her eyes immediately made the blonde aware that something was wrong. When Ophelia tried to glance around the corner as well, Ella pushed her back and held up a hand to keep her quiet.

Ella's hands shook as she grabbed her phone from the pocket of her shorts and started typing. She had to think fast and when her mouth suddenly started working faster than her brain she was grateful for once.

"OMG, so I was just stalking Jake on Instagram and he actually liked the skank's pic!" Ella ranted without looking up at her confused friend and her voice slipped into her best valley girl accent. "I can't believe he would do that to you!"

When Ophelia opened her mouth to tell Ella she had no idea what she was talking about, Ella shoved her phone into Ophelia's hand and the blonde's mouth dried out, making it impossible for her to speak.

'Blind wolf is here. Act like bf cheated on u. He can hear heart. Text Scott. I will talk to blind.'

"I mean, didn't he say he was totally sorry and wanted you back?" Ella continued, when Ophelia remained quiet and looked like she was going to faint. Widening her eyes, she tried to make the blonde reply and Ophelia finally managed to nod.

"Yeah. I can't believe he would do this to me." Ophelia whispered hoarsely and her voice was obviously trembling.

Normally, none of them would ever act so dramatically in a situation like this, but Ella had to come up with a quick reason as to why Ophelia would suddenly panic, because knowing what Scott had told her, Deucalion could easily hear and even smell that something was wrong.

If Ella was lucky she was mistaken about the whole thing and the blind man at the counter was just a normal blind guy without supernatural enhanced senses. But that wasn't the kind of day she was having and she couldn't take any chances with Ophelia's life.

"Maybe it was a mistake. Don't panic yet, O. And if it's not, I know like a thousand ways to humiliate him. Just stay here and I'll help the guy by the counter, okay?" Ella told her friend with her hands clasped around Ophelia's wrists; ordering her to stay and be quiet, while Ella took care of Deucalion.

Ophelia nodded slowly, making Ella let go of her and take a deep breath before she went to the front of the coffee shop to face the alpha werewolf. What a shitty day it had become.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting." Ella apologized as she came to stand in front of Deucalion, who sent her an easy smile in response. She cursed her heart for picking up its pace.

"I understand." Deucalion spoke calmly and turned his head towards the sound of her voice, resting his eyes just above her head. "Tell me, are you the owner of this place?"

 _Tell the truth. He will know if you're lying. Tell the truth as much as you possible can._

"No, she's in the back." Ella informed with a gesture of her head, forgetting that he couldn't see, and then willed herself to lean in closer as she lowered her voice.

"She found out yesterday that her boyfriend cheated on her and now he just liked the girl he cheated with's selfie on Instagram. He's like a total douche. Anyway, she's freaking out as you can imagine."

"What a shame." Deucalion said with would have fooled Ella as being genuine sympathy if she hadn't known who he really was. He had Erica killed. He was a murderer. And she was standing way too close to him.

"What can I do for you?" Ella asked with forced cheerfulness as she leaned away and shuffled her feet to take an unnoticeable step back.

 _He knows I'm scared, he can hear my heart racing. What do I do?_

So far Ella had only come up with an explanation as to why Ophelia's heart was racing, if Deucalion were to listen, and even though it was stupid, there was a chance the werewolf might believe her lie.

But why was her own heart about to jump out of her chest? She knew the alpha had noticed, because Ella could hear her own blood pumping in her ears and she had a feeling that even someone without supernatural hearing would be able to make out the sound of her heart beating rapidly.

"I was walking past this place, when this wonderful scent hit me and I simply had to come in and find out what it was." Deucalion told her as he slowly moved his head around and seemed to sniff the air.

Ella's body froze for a moment as she became afraid that the werewolf actually was able to smell Ophelia and knew what she was. That he knew what Ella was trying so desperately to hide from him, even though she barely understood why her friend was in danger.

"Really?" Ella said with feigned disbelieve and found herself frowning at the werewolf. As a human being with normal senses she knew that no distinct scents emitted from Ophelia's shop and especially not anything you could smell from the outside.

"Oh my God, is this like some blind people thing?" she gasped in a low voice and leaned slightly closer once more. She was purposely being insensitive to sell the mindless-teenage-girl act and her adopted accent became even thicker.

"Like because you can't see, you can smell really well?"

"Indeed." Deucalion replied without losing the smile on his lips, but Ella noticed a tug in the corner of his mouth and realized she was annoying him.

That could be a good thing and very bad thing. Good, because it might make him leave the shop quicker. Bad, because she wouldn't survive a pair of claws digging into her neck. She hoped with all of her heart that it was the first.

"That's awesome!" Ella exclaimed, forcing herself to antagonize him further before quickly backtracking. "I mean it sucks you're blind and all that."

Her purposely loose tongue didn't seem to have any effect on the werewolf as he didn't show any reactions to her careless words and Ella was at loss on how to continue.

"So, uhm, the thing that you smelled… Maybe it was the coffee? We also have these blueberry muffins that are totally delicious." Ella gushed and took a muffin from one of the glass cases by the counter, placing it on the table between them.

"I'm afraid that is not it." Deucalion said without bother smelling it and Ella frowned in response; not knowing how to otherwise distract him from, what she feared was, Ophelia's scent.

"Oh. Uhm, maybe it's my perfume? I just bought this new scent from Chanel and it's like, the best one they've ever made. It's called Claire de la Lune and the commercial said it smells like moon dust or something, which I don't think is possible, because who even knows what that smells like, but I was like whatever, because it smells really good. Here, try it."

Ella's rambling made her slightly breathless and as she offered her wrist to the werewolf – happy she had actually put on a small amount of perfume before leaving the house to go back to work – she wished that her brain had worked faster than her tongue, and she had come up with a better distraction.

Her heart jumped in fright, when Deucalion grabbed her wrist as if he could actually see and pulled her towards him. Her pulse raced as his breath hit her skin and he sniffed her like she had accidentally told him to.

"I will admit, your perfume is quite intoxicating." Deucalion told her as he lowered her wrist from his face, but didn't let go of her.

Ella felt like she was going to pass out as all blood rushed from her head and she paled visibly. His thumb was resting against her pulse point, feeling how it was racing if he hadn't been able to hear it, and a thousand questions flew through Ella's mind.

Could he kill her like this? Cut her wrist without anyone noticing and watch her bleed out. What if he knew she was lying and got angry? He could easily break her wrist with a twist of his hand. Would he do it? In front of all these witnesses? Or would he kill them as well before finding Ophelia? And what would he do to her if he did?

"Am I making your nervous?" he asked with an amused smile and Ella did her best to act confused.

"What? No. Why?" Ella managed to get out and inwardly cursed, when she heard her voice tremble slightly. Something a human might not notice, but a werewolf certainly would.

"Your pulse is racing."

"It is?" she questioned in feigned wonder and used her curiosity as an excuse to pull her wrist out of his grip. Leaning away from him without making it too obvious, Ella felt her own pulse and widened her eyes to create a surprised expression.

"Oh my God, it totally is. I think it's because my boss totally freaked me out earlier with her ex-boyfriend and I'm kinda new here, so I get nervous when I have to help customers." Ella lied and added a nervous laughter to her act, while her hands reached for hair as if to make sure it wasn't the mess she knew it was.

It was a bad lie, Ella quickly realized, even though Deucalion hadn't moved a muscle in response, and her eyes flashed across the room to think of another excuse as to why her heart was racing. A pair of blue eyes met hers and Ella's snapped back to the werewolf.

"Actually, there's this guy from school that I like and he's right in the corner over there with his friend." Ella told Deucalion in a secretive voice and let out a small giggle as she pointed towards the mentioned corner.

In her attempt to stick to the truth as much as possible Ella had found two teenage boys, about Stiles' age, sitting in the corner, staring at her, and figured that if that part was true, she could more easily lie about the other parts.

She wasn't just making someone up and Deucalion would be able to hear two heartbeats, and probably even smell lust from the way they were obviously staring at Ella. She hadn't made it better by pointing them out; making them think she was interested in them as well.

"And he's like, looking directly at me and I'm totally nervous because I'm a huge klutz so what if I break something and he like, laughs at me? That would be so embarrassing."

There was a tug in the corner of the werewolf's mouth, but Ella couldn't tell if he found her annoying and amusing. Or what either emotion would mean for her well-being.

"I see." was all Deucalion said and turned his head slightly as he sniffed the air once more like he did when he had first entered the shop. "It seems your perfume misled me. I will take my leave."

"You don't wanna buy anything?" Ella asked without thinking and cringed at herself as the blind alpha paused. He had been turning away to leave, but Ella's loose tongue had stopped him.

"How much for the muffin?" Deucalion asked after a brief moment of hesitation and the words almost fell out of Ella's mouth as she quickly replied.

"Three dollars."

"Very well." he said and dug a hand into one of the pockets in his jacket, withdrawing a five dollar bill. "Keep the change."

"Thank you." Ella told him with a forced smile and placed the muffin in his hand as he reached for it. She held her breath for a fraction of second as their fingers touched and he took it from her with a smile. "Have a nice day."

Ella didn't move as Deucalion turned to leave the shop and bit into her lower lip to make sure she wouldn't say anything stupid. Without noticing what she was doing she started cracking her fingers, and when the door closed behind the werewolf she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

A full minute passed before Ella got her breathing somewhat under control and she stopped cracking her joints to grip the counter; afraid that her suddenly weak knees might give in from underneath her. Her heart was still pounding in her chest and another minute went by before she managed to move.

Her hands were trembling as she walked to the backroom and filled a tall glass with water; her mouth was dry like sandpaper and blood was still pumping loudly in her ears, making her feel faint.

"Ella?" Ophelia's careful voice came from behind her and Ella accidentally smashed her now empty glass into the edge of the sink, cracking it so a shard of glass cut the palm of her hand.

"Shit!" Ella yelled loudly at the stinging pain and dropped the rest of the glass into the sink.

Ophelia was quickly by her side, grabbing her hand and holding it under the stream of cold water that fell from the faucet. Ella watched her friend through teary eyes as her blood colored the white porcelain sink, and found the same fear in her friend's blue eyes as she knew were in her own as well.

"Are you okay?" Ophelia asked as she gently held Ella's bleeding hand and seemed to have regained some of her cool after seeing her friend hurt.

"No. I think I'm about to have a heart attack." Ella breathed, her voice shaking, and winced in pain as the cold water continued to rinse her open wound. At least it was also slowly numbing her hand.

"I'm so sorry, Ella. You've already had an awful day and now this." Ophelia apologized with a deep frown and couldn't get herself to look at her friend; instead keeping her eyes on Ella's bleeding hand.

This was Ophelia's mess and Ella already had enough to deal with. She didn't want her friend having to worry about Ophelia's safety, while dealing with everything else the supernatural world was going to throw after her. And according to what Stiles had told her, it was a lot.

"It's not your fault, O. Look, I'm not really sure what's actually going on here and the fact that you're a fairy is crazy, but if you're in danger I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. Just… next time I decide to lie repeatedly to a psycho alpha werewolf, please stop me."

"I will." Ophelia laughed quietly and met Ella's gaze. Both girls had calmed down considerably, but fear still lingered in their eyes.

Ophelia watched in surprise as the smile on Ella's lips widened until she started laughing and Ophelia found herself giggling as well. It was sort of morbid of them to laugh at the whole thing, but it was either that or crying to get rid of all their pent-up nervousness.

When they finally stopped Ella's hand seemed to have stopped bleeding and they turned off the water, wrapping a towel around the hand while Ophelia looked for the first aid kit.

"Maybe you should close early today?" Ella suggested as she briefly glanced into the shop and realized neither of them was of right mind to serve anyone. In any case they would only be closing thirty minutes before time.

"Yeah. Give me a minute." Ophelia said as she managed to get the first aid kit down from a high shelf and placed it on the table beside Ella.

Ella was about to stop the blonde and tell her that maybe it wasn't safe for her to go out there yet, but Ophelia was gone before she could say anything.

As she listened to Ophelia regretfully tell her customers that the shop was closing early, Ella carefully removed the towel around her right hand to look at the cut.

It didn't look too deep, but was long and jagged. It started at the base of her thumb, cutting through the so-called life line, and stopped in the middle of her palm.

She watched with a disgusted frown how blood slowly rose from the wound as soon as she stopped putting pressure on it. Hopefully, she wouldn't need stitches, but with the day she was having she very much doubted she was that lucky.

Ella briefly rinsed her hand once more, moaning in pain as the cold water hit her palm, and wrapped the towel around her hand once more. When she looked up, Ophelia was back and the lights in the front of the shop were dimmed.

Ophelia had never used a first aid kit before or cleaned a cut like Ella's, so it was a slow and painful affair to get her fixed up. It didn't help that Ophelia winched and shied away every time Ella hissed at the pain.

When rapid knocks landed on the front door of the shop, both girls froze and looked at each other with wide eyes. Ella's heart jumped to her throat for the tenth time that day – she really need to see a doctor to check whether her heart was still working properly after this – and motioned for Ophelia to stay quiet.

Slowly, Ella walked towards the front door and flinched, when the person outside knocked again; more insistent this time. The blinds in front of the window in the door had been rolled down, so she couldn't see who was behind them, but Ella paused when a slightly familiar voice called from the other side of the door.

"Ophelia? It's me. Let me in."

"Derek?" Ella questioned with a confused frown and glanced back at Ophelia, who had appeared to stand behind the counter.

Ella sighed at her friend as the blonde sent her a sheepish smile; she obviously hadn't texted Scott like Ella told her to. When Derek replied affirmatively, having heard her with his wolf hearing, Ella quickly unlocked the door to let him in.

She watched in surprise as Derek quickly brushed past her and made his way to Ophelia in a few long strides. He seemed completely healed from what had happened with Boyd and Cora earlier, and Ella wondered briefly how the teenage werewolves were doing.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Derek questioned urgently and Ella's eyebrows lifted in astonishment, when Derek placed his hands on either side of Ophelia's face.

He was staring at her as if he might be able to get an answer from just looking into her eyes. Ophelia seemed taken aback at his actions as well, but Ella noticed her relax visibly as soon as Derek touched her.

 _What the hell is going on with those two? Please, Ophelia, don't get a crush on Derek Hale of all people._

"I'm fine. Deucalion was here, but Ella took care of it." Ophelia told him in a calm tone and her words seemed to make Derek realize what he was doing as he quickly let go of her and took a step backwards.

Ella wondered if she had just seen Ophelia use her werewolf-whisperer skills and whether Derek even knew she was doing it. Taking a step towards the couple, she caught Derek's attention and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You took care of it?" he asked with a dubious tone Ella didn't like, but all she did was scowl at him. "How?"

"I lied my ass off." Ella told with her arms crossed in front her and tried not to winch in pain as she accidentally brushed her cut against her left arm.

"You can't lie to a werewolf. Especially not one like Deucalion. He can hear your heart beat."

"I know. But my heart was beating so loudly that he wouldn't have been able to hear when I was telling the truth and when I was lying. It was all the same to him. I think he could smell Ophelia, but I made him think it was my perfume."

"Your perfume?" Derek questioned with an expression on his face that told her he didn't believe her. Or at least believed it had worked.

"Look, I got him to leave without him finding out about Ophelia. I found out that werewolves existed this _morning_ , so if I managed to fool him even a little bit, I'll say that's pretty impressive." Ella argued as she walked to the counter; Derek and Ophelia standing on the other side.

"And when he finds out that you were lying and comes back here?"

"I don't freaking know!" Ella exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air in annoyance. She had risked her life by lying to Deucalion and all Derek could do was complain that she hadn't done it well enough.

"Derek, she did the best she could. I don't what would have happened if she hadn't been here. We'll figure the rest out later." Ophelia intervened and placed a hand on Derek's arm, making him look at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Why do I smell blood?" he asked when Ophelia finally let her hand fall from his arm and a frown settled on his forehead as he looked at Ella.

Slowly, Ella uncrossed her arms and raised her right hand to show him the jagged cut in her palm. It had stopped bleeding, but it didn't surprise her that he could still smell it.

"You need to bandage it, so it doesn't get infected." Derek informed her, barely glancing at her hand before going to the back room.

He returned with the first aid kit and placed it on the counter between them, reaching for her hand as if they didn't kind of dislike each other.

Ella hesitated as she looked down at his open hand and then glanced at Ophelia, who was gesturing with her head towards Derek. With a small sigh Ella placed the back of her right hand in the palm of his left one and leaned her elbows on the counter to stand more comfortably.

Her eyes widened as their skin touched and her lips parted in surprise, when she felt the throbbing pain in her hand disappear. Scott had told her about werewolves' ability to take pain from others, but feeling it on her own body was surreal.

"What are you doing?" Ella asked quietly, when she finally got her voice back and she looked at Derek's arm to find that black veins slowly appeared under his skin.

Ophelia had moved closer to Derek, their shoulders touching, and watched the black veins as well. Her eyes were lit up with curiosity and amazement.

"Disinfecting your cut." Derek replied without lifting his eyes from her hand, but Ella noticed a hint of a smirk on his lips as if he found their reactions amusing. He was far less gentle than Ophelia had been, but Ella barely felt it.

"The pain. It's gone."

"It'll come back later. Scott hasn't told you about this?"

"He did." was all Ella said and felt the pain return just the slightest, when Derek let go of her hand to find some gauze.

Ella looked up from her own hand to glance at Derek and then Ophelia. Her eyes narrowed, when she found her friend watching Derek with a soft smile on her lips. It fell, when she noticed Ella staring at her and Ophelia looked away in embarrassment.

When Derek grabbed her hand once more and started dressing the cut, Ella's eyes snapped back to his face and suddenly she was the one staring. It was strange seeing him again, all clean and healed, after what had happened that morning. Werewolves really did heal quickly.

"How's Boyd and Cora?"

There was a brief look of surprise on Derek's face, when Ella asked about his beta and younger sister. They had tried to kill her, so he didn't think their well-being was one of her biggest concerns.

"Fine."

"I'm sorry about Erica."

When Ella didn't get a reply, she glanced at Ophelia, who shared the same sad expression that was on Ella's face, and she figured that Stiles had told the blonde about that as well. Looking back at Derek, she noticed how tightly his jaw was clenched and decided to leave the issue alone.

"What did you tell Jennifer?" Ella then tried, when the teacher crossed her mind and she remembered Jennifer's surprisingly calm behavior from earlier at the school.

"Who?" Derek asked with a brief look of confusion on his face and paused dressing Ella's hand to watch her.

"The teacher that was locked in the boiler room with Cora and Boyd? You said you'd 'take care of her'." Ella elaborated with her eyebrows lifted in surprise. Had he even talked to her?

"I told her she was safe and to stay at home on full moons. I followed her back to her classroom and left her there." Derek told as if his encounter with Jennifer had been a perfectly normal one. "Why?"

"It's just… I went back for a class at ten and she was… I don't know. She just didn't act like someone, who was almost attacked by werewolves a couple of hours earlier. Like nothing had happened, really." Ella informed the werewolf, who frowned but didn't say anything.

"Maybe she was in shock? Or some kind of denial?" Ophelia suggested with a look at Derek and then Ella, who had no answer to give but a shrug.

"Maybe."

"Don't do anything stupid with your hand until it's healed again." Derek said suddenly as if they hadn't just been talking about something completely different.

Ella looked down on her hand to find the gauze wrapped tightly around her hand at the base of her thumb. She carefully flexed her fingers and felt the throbbing pain cut return, although it wasn't as bad as before.

"If it starts bleeding again, you go to the hospital and get it stitched." the alpha practically ordered her and Ella nodded mindlessly; she was too tired to be bothered by his rude tone.

"Thank you."

Green met hazel as Derek and Ella's eyes briefly connected and the werewolf gave her a small nod in response before turning his attention towards Ophelia.

"You need to close this place." he told her resolutely and Ophelia shared a confused look with her friend as it was pretty obvious she had already done that.

"I have. There's a reason why the door was locked and the sign outside said 'closed'." Ophelia pointed out with an arm gesture towards the empty and dim-lit coffee shop.

"You're closing it permanently."

"I'm what?"

"She's what?"

Ella and Ophelia's surprised exclamations came simultaneously, but didn't change the stony expression on Derek's face. He didn't even bother to look at Ella and kept his eyes on Ophelia, who was frowning back at him.

"Until Deucalion is gone you can't go to work. It's not safe. He'll figure out Ella lied soon enough, if he hasn't already and then he'll be back. So unless someone else can run this place for you, you have to close it."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not going to hide at home because of some psycho werewolf and I'm definitely not closing the shop." Ophelia told in a steadfast voice and crossed her arms in front of her. Derek did the same as he took a step closer to her.

Ella was only half-surprised by Ophelia's statement as she knew how stubborn her friend could be. On the other hand, Ophelia had been just as afraid as Ella, when Deucalion had come in and she had to be faking some of the determination in her voice.

"And when he comes back? What are you gonna do? Are you expecting me to play bodyguard?" Derek questioned calmly, but there was a hint of anger in his voice. Or maybe it was frustration.

"Of course not. But this is my life and my shop, and I'm not going to just abandon it." Ophelia replied in a more heated manner.

From what Ella had learned about Ophelia's powers, her tone of voice couldn't possibly be a good influence on Derek's mood. A muscle in the werewolf's jaw ticked, but he didn't show any other signs of being annoyed.

"This is not about being brave, Ophelia. If Deucalion gets to you then we might as well all be dead. You'll only make him more powerful."

"I see." Ophelia mused with a humorless smile and Ella watched the pair uncomfortably.

She had a strange feeling their argument was more personal than it seemed. Not because of anything they said, but more the way they did so. Like it was part two of another argument Ella didn't know about.

And she had little idea who to agree with. If she was Ophelia she would have gotten angry as well and refused to close the shop. But the blonde's stubbornness might quickly prove to be more careless than brave. She had been lucky that Ella had been around today and, even then, it could very well have ended horribly.

"You're not actually concerned about _my_ safety. You're just afraid you won't be able to fight him if he uses my powers to make himself stronger. Nice to know your priorities. But don't worry; I'd rather kill myself than be used like that."

Ella's lips parted in surprise over her friend's words. Not only because it didn't really seem fair to accuse Derek of not caring – _why am I defending Derek? Holy shit, I'm tired_ – even though she had no idea how he felt about Ophelia, but the blonde's promise to commit suicide if she was ever taken by Deucalion scared Ella.

"You're going to commit suicide?" Derek questioned dryly and with a disbelieving expression on his face.

He clearly didn't think Ophelia would be capable of taking her own life, even faced with Deucalion and what he might do to her, but Ella wasn't so sure. The anger shinning in Ophelia's eyes only confirmed her doubts.

"You're going to cut your wrists and bleed to death?"

Ophelia flinched at Derek's harsh words and Ella frowned at the mental image of her friend lying in a pool of her own blood.

"Yes." Ophelia replied in a small voice and took a deep breath to regain her confidence before continuing. "If it keeps the rest of you safe, then yes."

"I'm not going to let you do that." Derek growled as he leaned towards the blonde and she had to lift her head to look him in the eyes.

"So what? I'm just gonna sit quietly while I wait for you to come save me?" Ophelia argued with an angry gesture of her arm that made her hand slap against Derek's chest.

She was obviously not happy with being treated like some damsel in distress, but for Ella that was a lot better than her friend ending her own life and once again she found herself agreeing with Derek.

Their argument was getting way too heated for Ella's comfort and she couldn't figure out how it had escalated so quickly. She opened her mouth to quiet them down, but was interrupted by Derek.

"Yes."

Ella took a quick step towards the fighting couple, when a flash of red appeared in Derek's eyes. They kept staring at each other as if they had forgotten Ella was even there and she shook her head at the strange tension between them.

"Here's what gonna happen." Ella spoke in a firm voice, feeling too exhausted to be a part of their insane fight about death and rescue missions.

Derek and Ophelia both turned their eyes to her, taking a step away from each other. The distance between them seemed to clear up their minds a bit and Ophelia's shoulders fell.

"I'm gonna walk out here, get into my car and drive home. Then I'm gonna sleep for about twelve to fourteen hours and come here tomorrow for my shift. You two figure out whether I'll see the open or closed sign, when I arrive. Okay? Okay."

Ella took a deep breath as she finished talking and looked at Ophelia, who had a guilty expression on her face. With everything that had happened to Ella that day, she hadn't needed to be a part of their argument as well.

"Good luck." Ella told her friend with half a smile, knowing Ophelia would probably get her way and then shifted her eyes to Derek. "Thank you."

She gave a small wave with her injured hand to let him know what she was thanking him for and received a nod in return. Derek's face was practically expressionless, but she it wasn't hard to see the frustration burning in his eyes.

"Be safe." Ophelia called after her as Ella turned to walk out of the shop and the brunette paused as she reached the door, looking back over her shoulder.

"You too. And please don't kill each other. I'm really not in the mood to clean it up tomorrow."

Only Ophelia smiled briefly at her joke and Ella let out a tired sigh as she left the shop, walking into the soft rain that had started falling.

She felt like a hurricane would have been more appropriate for the chaos inside her mind.


	8. To do a great right, do a little wrong

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _"_ _And I beseech you,  
_ _Wrest once the law to your authority.  
_ _To do a great right, do a little wrong,  
_ _And curb this cruel devil of his will."_

William Shakespeare, _The Merchant of Venice_

* * *

Ella's eyes widened in surprise, when she found herself face to face with Derek outside of Jennifer's classroom.

She hadn't seen him since Friday in the coffee shop, although technically she had caught glimpses of him outside on her shift Saturday.

Ophelia had somehow gotten her way and was keeping the shop open, despite how dangerous it might be.

 _"_ _How did you even manage to get Derek to agree to this?"_

 _"_ _We had sex."_

 _"_ _You did what?!"_

 _"_ _I'm joking! You really think I would do that?"_

 _"_ _Yes?"_

 _"_ _Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, we didn't actually agree. I'm keeping the shop open and he's lurking around outside, keeping watch apparently."_

Isaac had walked into the shop around two, obviously trading places with Derek, and Ella had taken a long break to talk to him. There was still a part of him she recognized as the carefree boy she used to know, but so much had happened in his life since then.

"Hi." was all Ella could think of to say as the classroom door closed behind Derek and the sound echoed through the empty hall.

It was early Monday morning and there were no students in the halls yet. Ella wasn't supposed to meet for another twenty minutes, but had awoken early from a nightmare and hadn't been able to fall asleep again.

She couldn't remember what the dream was about, but an ominous choir of voices had rung in her ears after waking up. She had never heard the strange chanting before, but the feeling of something terrible growing nearer had made her shiver.

He didn't respond to her greeting and the slightly amused gleam in his eyes disappeared, making Ella curious about what he had been doing inside the classroom.

 _Is Jennifer in there? Did he think she was being weird too? Why is he being weird?_

"How's your hand?" Derek questioned with a nod towards said hand, which was still dressed in gauze, and Ella lifted it to show him it was healing as if he had x-ray vision; forgetting that he wasn't actually Superman.

"It's better." Ella told as she let her hand fall to her side and added a "thanks" as an afterthought. "Uhm, why are you here?"

The two of them had been in the same situation just a week earlier, when she had caught Derek exiting a classroom that turned out to hold Scott, Allison, Stiles and Lydia inside. But a hell of a lot had changed since then and this time she asked with a lot less hostility.

"I was checking up on Jennifer. You said you thought she was acting strangely after what happened in the boiler room."

"Oh, right." Ella said with a small frown as she didn't think Derek had actually listened to her concerns. And she definitely hadn't expected him to do anything about it. "And?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." was all he offered as a reply, which in Ella's world was incredibly vague. How would she know what he considered ordinary?

Although, he did have heightened senses that might give him a better idea of what Jennifer was feeling than what Ella could tell from a few hazy minutes with the teacher right after finding out werewolves existed.

"Maybe it was just me being weird then." Ella laughed jokingly and half expected him to agree with her, but no response came from him.

"I have to go." Derek told her without further ado and didn't even bother to act like he was looking at the time. "Be careful."

"You too!" Ella called as he left down the hall and then winced at the sound of her suddenly high-pitched voice.

 _Way to be awkward._

With a loud sigh Ella entered the classroom and found a flustered Jennifer sitting on her desk, staring at seemingly nothing.

"Good morning."

Jennifer jumped slightly at the sound of Ella's voice and a light blush colored her cheeks.

"Good morning. How are you?" Jennifer asked with a careful smile, referring to Ella's family emergency; being Heather's death.

"Okay, I guess." Ella told her as she placed her bag on the floor and sat down on one the students' desks. She then forced a frown to her face and pointed at the door she had just entered through. "Was that Derek Hale just coming out of here?"

"You know him?" Jennifer questioned with a strange gleam in her eyes as if Ella had just told her something exciting.

"Yeah. We went to high school together. He was two classes above me, but I know who he is."

"It makes sense then that he was asking for you."

"He was?" Ella asked in surprise, even though she knew Jennifer was lying. It was a clever lie as it was reasonable and drew attention away from Jennifer's own strange connection to Derek that she didn't know Ella knew about.

"You didn't meet him in the hall?"

"No, I only saw him leave, but he didn't see me. What did he want with me?"

"I don't know, he didn't say."

"Weird." Ella said with a feigned confused expression on her face and then shook her head as if to get rid of her thoughts. "Anyway, are we starting on _The Crucible_ today?"

"Yes, but I have to admit that I'm not really prepared." Jennifer told with a dejected look in her eyes – not giving a reason as to why she was unprepared – and Ella sent her a comforting smile.

"How about we start with the McCarthyism allegory and then go from there, yeah?"

"Okay." Jennifer agreed with an almost relieved smile and Ella jumped off the student's desk; missing the way the teacher narrowed her eyes in Ella's direction.

* * *

Ella almost paused in the middle of a step, when she saw her brother outside the principal's office. It didn't surprise her that he had gotten into some kind of trouble, but the way he was trying to inconspicuously look through the window into the office made her suspicious.

He fell awkwardly back into his seat as a blonde girl exited the office and was told to wait outside by a deputy. She looked shaken and Ella frowned, when Stiles stood up and grabbed a hold of her. Ella couldn't hear what Stiles was saying, but there was an urgent look on his face as he started talking.

When the girl suddenly slapped Stiles, Ella quickly made her way over to him and grabbed a hold of his arm as a shocked expression appeared on his face. The deputy from before came out to lead the blonde girl away and sent Stiles an incredulous look.

"No, he wasn't a virgin." the blonde told Stiles as she stopped to look at him before following the deputy down the hall.

Ella's eyes widened in understanding as she realized what Stiles had asked about to earn a slap, and then realized why he had asked her. She was the girlfriend of the dead senior they had found on the running track only an hour earlier.

Before she could say anything their father walked out of the office, looking after the blonde and then Stiles, who immediately opened his mouth to explain.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" their father questioned angrily and glanced down at Ella as well; not sure whether she was in on whatever Stiles was doing.

"I've got four murders, Stiles!" the sheriff practically yelled and Ella's hand squeezed her brother's arm in support as he guiltily looked at the floor.

His question had been incredibly insensitive, but there was so much more going on than what their father knew of. And now that the fourth victim turned out not to be a virgin they were left with almost no leads as to who would be next.

"Do you see those men in there? That's the FBI!" their father continued and pointed at the window to the principal's office through which three men dressed in FBI jackets could be seen. "They're pulling together a task force to help, because it looks like we've got a full-blown serial killer on our hands. You get that?"

"Yes, dad, I get that." Stiles replied and Ella could feel him growing frustrated; their father's mood rubbing off on him. Ella could feel it on herself as well.

"Then what are you doing?" the sheriff questioned, unable to understand what was going on inside his son's mind. The expression on his face suddenly made Ella realize that even if they told him what was really going on, he probably wouldn't listen to them.

"I'm trying to find a pattern."

The sheriff looked at his son in disbelieve and then at Ella as if asking her if she could believe what she was hearing.

Stiles had developed a bad habit of getting involved in police work, but this was more serious than it had ever been and the sheriff couldn't have his own son screwing up the investigation. He feared that one day Stiles would be arrested for obstruction of justice.

"Stay out of this, Stiles, and let me do my job." their father sighed and Ella squeezed Stiles arm to keep him quiet, when he looked like he was about to argue. "And go to class before I get dragged back in there for other reasons."

The sheriff gestured with his head towards the principal's office and sent both his children a stern look, making them nod in return.

"See you at home."

Ella waited until their father was out of hearing range before she moved to stand in front of her brother, who wore a distressed expression.

"So not a virgin, huh? Maybe he wasn't a part of the sacrifices?" Ella questioned as she reached into her bag for a cold water bottle, hoping to distract Stiles from the scolding he had just gotten.

He blinked a few times, when Ella placed the bottle against his reddening cheek and took it from her with a sigh.

"He was killed the same way as the others. The three-fold death."

"But if he wasn't a virgin, why was he killed?" Ella asked with a small tilt of her head, her eyes shining with confusion and a bit of fear.

"I'm trying to figure that out. Isaac thinks it's the alpha pack." Stiles told as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand and his irritation with Isaac was clear in his voice.

"Could it be?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't make sense. Wouldn't they just use their claws or teeth? They have really sharp teeth." Stiles said with a shake of his head and placed two fingers by his front teeth to imitate fangs, which made a smile tug in the corner of Ella's mouth.

"Human sacrifice does sound more plausible. Which are words I never thought I would say."

"Welcome to my world." Stiles spoke dryly and gave back Ella her water bottle. His cheek was still red, but it didn't look too bad. "I gotta meet Scott for lunch, but I'll see you later."

"Sure. Can I do anything by the way? Check up on something, someone?" Ella asked as her brother was about to leave.

She felt useless against whatever they were facing, but wanted to help anyway she could. Maybe make sure her brother didn't get into any more trouble.

"Maybe keep an eye on Isaac, so he doesn't get killed trying to attack the alpha twins."

"I'm sorry, the what?" Ella asked with eyebrows raised in confusion, having not heard anything about any alpha twins.

"I texted you about them."

"No, you didn't."

"Yeah, I did."

"Stiles, I haven't received any texts from you."

"But I sent-" Stiles started arguing as he pulled his phone from his pocket and found his messages. "Oh. Okay, so I might have forgotten to press send."

"So who are the alpha twins?" Ella asked with a small sigh and glanced at her watch, seeing that the lunch break had just started.

"Well, they're twins and part of the alpha pack." Stiles told, stating the obvious and making Ella glare at him. "They've just started as juniors. Big and broody, kinda brown-reddish hair. You'll know them, when you see them."

"Great, can't wait."

"Just be careful, okay? I gotta go meet Scott. Bye."

Stiles was moving down the hall before Ella had a chance to reply and she watched him round the corner before she began her walk towards the teachers' longue herself.

She felt weird being in there after what Allison had told Scott about Ms. Morell and Ella couldn't decide how to act around Jennifer either.

She hadn't really made any friends other than the English teacher, but she had a feeling that Coach Finstock would want to talk her ears off about finding the dead senior. Especially, since he knew who her father was.

Ella froze as she rounded a corner, leading into an almost empty hall, and immediately recognized the alpha twins Stiles had told her about.

Not because of their looks, but because one of them were carrying a very heavy vending machine as if it weighed nothing, while the other was standing beside a closed door, waiting for his brother.

Ella ducked back around the corner before they saw her and practically held her breath as she heard footsteps move away from her.

Loud bangs on the closed door and muffled yells made Ella move from her hiding place and run to the vending machine that now made it impossible to open the door. It didn't take her long to realize who was inside as a female voice started calling out "Isaac" as Isaac screamed in panic.

Ella didn't bother try to remove the vending machine and instead found her phone. Scott didn't answer his phone and she didn't have time to call Stiles as the locked room became quiet. Ella's heart jumped in fear, when she suddenly heard a low growl and she immediately drew a deep breath.

"Scott!" Ella cried out as loudly as she could and hoped to whatever deity that would listen that he had heard her.

She heard another growl from inside the locked room and then Allison's muffled pleas to Isaac to regain control over himself. No more than ten seconds passed and the growls suddenly turned into a roar, making Ella back away from the door.

Scott's appearance didn't bring her much relief and she quickly moved out of the way as he, without asking, pushed away the vending machine and threw open the door.

Ella pressed herself the wall behind her as Isaac was thrown out of the room and he turned his yellow-glowing eyes on her from where he was lying on the floor. He didn't have time to make a move before Scott was over him, roaring Isaac's name as his own eyes glowed.

Only when Isaac's fangs disappeared and he sat up, pressing himself against a wall like a wounded animal, Ella found it safe enough to move forward.

She quickly knelt beside him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as he looked at Allison, who was coming out of the supply closet, with wide apologetic eyes.

"I'm okay, I'm fine." Allison quickly told as Scott grabbed her hand and stared at the two large scratches on her arm with anger in his brown eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean- I didn't mean to do that." Isaac spoke shakily and out of breath.

There was still a hint of panic in his large blue eyes as he turned to look at Ella and the vulnerability he displayed made her heart ache. Instinctively, Ella placed a hand on the back of his head, pulling him closer and into her embrace.

"I'm so sorry." Isaac muttered against Ella's shoulder and she looked up at Scott, who was watching Isaac with a clenched jaw.

"It's not his fault." Allison told Scott with a shake of her head, breathing heavily while holding a hand over the scratches to stop the bleeding.

"I know." Scott replied calmly, but it sounded forced in Ella's ears. As if he was trying to reassure them that they would be okay, despite what had just happened.

"I guess now we know they wanna do more than get you angry." Scott continued, looking down at Isaac, who was slowly letting go of Ella and getting his breathing under control. "They wanna get someone hurt."

"So are we gonna do something?" Isaac questioned heatedly and Ella let completely go of him, feeling his anger and strength return.

"Yeah." Scott said as he looked at Allison and then Isaac and Ella. "We're gonna get them angry. Really angry."

"How?" Allison questioned and it scared Ella that the teenagers were so willingly bringing themselves in danger.

"Stop right there." she told them in a measured tone of voice, making sure to remain calm, but also authoritarian. "First of all, I think this is a bad idea. From what you've told me they're much stronger than you and getting them angry will only make it worse.

"Secondly, I'm your teacher and if you plan to do something at the school I can't be a part of it, so I'm gonna take Allison with me to the nurse to get her cleaned up. In the meantime, don't do anything stupid."

The teenagers only had time to share a look of surprise before Ella grabbed Allison's unharmed arm and pulled the girl with her down the hall.

"It's okay. We don't have to go to the nurse." Allison told her as she followed the smaller woman towards the nurse's office. Ella let go of Allison's arm with a small sigh and grabbed the other one carefully to look at the cuts.

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure that I, as a teacher, have to take you."

"I've tried worse." Allison shrugged and Ella frowned at the young girl, who acted too nonchalant in the face of pain. "Besides, we can't really tell the nurse I got attacked by a werewolf."

"Right." Ella sighed and calmed a hand through her hair, which she had let hang loose that day. "I'm still getting used to all of this werewolf stuff. Let's go to the bathroom instead."

* * *

After getting Allison's cuts cleaned, Ella stole some gauze from the nurse and Allison left her to find Scott and Isaac. Ella impressed on her once more the danger they might be getting themselves into with the twins, but she didn't seem to mind Ella's words.

The lunch break was over by the time Ella had finished helping Allison and she hurried to Jennifer's class room for English with a class of sophomores.

Stiles had texted her in the middle of class and Ella had told him to take his theories about human sacrifice and small dogs to Lydia instead.

The last class of the day was with a junior class that included Scott and, Ella discovered when they walked into the room, the alpha twins. As far as Ella knew Scott's plan to get revenge over the twins hadn't been put into action yet.

The mischievous look in his eyes, though, as he walked in and sat beside one of them told her that she was about to witness it happen.

Ella watched curiously as Scott smiled at the twins and then proceeded to pull a round mechanic-looking thing out of his bag; quickly followed by another, smaller one.

Both of the twins immediately straightened in their seats and glared at Scott; they were clearly trying to remain calm. Their heads then snapped towards something outside the class room, which Ella figured was a noise she couldn't hear.

One of the twins, wearing a brown leather jacket and a furious expression on his face, suddenly got up and ran out of the room.

"Aiden, don't!" the other twin called after him and Jennifer paused in the middle of writing a letter on the blackboard to look after the teenager in surprise.

"I'll go look." Ella quickly told her and shared a quick look with Scott before leaving the class room. He looked more amused than worried, so Ella didn't think there would be any danger in following.

She heard the sound of a loud engine as soon as she entered the hall and hurried after the alpha twin, even though he was considerably faster than her. The engine cut out as he rounded a corner and she heard him shout.

"Get off my bike!"

When Ella finally caught up with him she was greeted by the sight of Isaac doing a flip over Aiden's shoulders and he landed right in front of her with a large grin on his face.

It took a moment for Ella to realize what had happened as Aiden took control of the bike Isaac had been riding and it suddenly looked like he had been the one driving around on it.

She couldn't help herself as she offered Isaac a low high-five and managed to hide her smile just as Jennifer and the rest of the class came running to catch Aiden in the act.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Jennifer spoke angrily as she stepped towards the shocked alpha twin. "You realize this is gonna result in a suspension."

Ella bit hard into her lower lip to keep a straight face and had to look away, when she saw Allison, Scott and Isaac smile at each other. She felt the other twin momentarily glare at her and then look at Scott, who cheekily lifted his eyebrows at Aiden.

 _One point for Team McCall._

* * *

Ella was walking down the halls on her way to the parking lot, still finding it hard not to grin at the thought of the number Scott had pulled on the twins, when Stiles suddenly came running towards her with Dr. Deaton on his heels.

"Stiles? Dr. Deaton?" Ella called out in confusion on seeing them together as she thought Stiles had gone home.

She hadn't heard anything from him since his text about small dogs, but figured that Lydia hadn't been much help, so he for some reason had gone to see Deaton instead. According to Scott he knew a lot about the supernatural.

"El!" Stiles exclaimed and almost tripped over his own feet as he was just about to round a corner, when he saw her. "Come on!"

Her brother waved her towards him, but didn't give her any other explanation for why she had to follow. Stiles was down the next hall before Ella had reached them, while Deaton waited for her; greeting her with a brief smile.

"Where are we going?" Ella asked as they quickly walked after Stiles, taking long steps to keep up with her brother, who had already disappeared out of sight.

"The music room."

"Why?"

"Lydia called Stiles. It appears the music teacher has been taken. It could be for another sacrifice." Deaton informed her in a calm voice that freaked her out, because shouldn't those words have been said with a little more panic, or maybe just worry?

"Mr. Davis? But I saw him like half an hour ago." Ella spoke with eyes widened in fear for the teacher, who had been at the school for at least a decade.

Deaton didn't respond as they made it to the music room and entered to find Lydia and Stiles standing at a piano in the middle of the room.

Lydia looked shaken and seemed to be hugging herself with her arms wrapped around her waist. She didn't seem to notice Stiles' hand on her shoulder, or maybe she didn't mind.

"What's going on?" Ella asked as soon as she stepped into the room and walked over to the two teenagers, who were staring at a phone leaning against the music sheet holder.

"I don't know." Lydia spoke with a slightly trembling voice and then took a deep breath as if to regain control. "I don't even know how I ended up in here. But the teacher didn't come, so the others left. I listened to the recording on the phone and it was just the piano playing until…"

Instead of explaining what had happened Lydia pressed play on the phone to start the recording. For a moment soft tones filled the room, but a loud and sudden noise made Ella jump. It sounded as if something had hit the keys hard, like hands banging on them, and the sound lingered before the recording became quiet.

The silence lasted only a couple of seconds as a strange choir of voices began chanting something that almost sounded tribal or like some sort of battle cry. Like something powerful and frightening was coming for them.

"Can we get a copy of this?" Deaton asked Lydia as he picked up the phone and she took it from him to send it to her own phone.

Ella stepped forward, when she noticed the blood and nail scratches on the piano cover and almost reached out to touch it. A shiver running down her spine made her retract her hand.

"Why do you look like that?" Stiles asked her as he started opening the drawers in Mr. Davis desk, looking for clues as to what had happened to the teacher.

"Excuse me?" Ella exclaimed, trying to hold back her indignation as this didn't seem like the time to get into a fight with her brother.

"That look on your face. Like you've seen this before." Stiles explained without looking at her, but Ella felt Deaton and Lydia turn their eyes her way.

"I haven't. But the voices… I feel like I've heard them before." Ella told hesitantly as she hadn't realized she recognized the chanting until Stiles had pointed out the apparently telling look on her face.

"When did you hear them?" Deaton asked in that same soft tone he always used, making Ella take a deep breath to clear her head.

Trying to remember was a nagging feeling. Like it was just on the tip of her tongue or in the corner of her eye. Closing her eyes didn't help and after a few long moments Ella had to shake her head dejectedly.

"I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Right, so, doc, any help with the, uh, you know helping..." Stiles called as he frantically searched through Mr. Davis' papers, having given up on his sister being any help. Ella let out a quiet sigh and couldn't help but feel useless.

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose. Its own type of powers." Deaton started telling and the whole idea of it being human sacrifices suddenly felt much more real as the veterinarian apparently agreed with Stiles' theory.

"Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors."

"Wait, wait, wait." Stiles interrupted as he found a piece of paper in one of the drawers and Ella quickly moved over to him to look at the paper. "Warrior, could that also be like a soldier?"

Ella looked down at the paper in Stiles' hand, which turned out to be a wedding picture of Mr. Davis and his wife. Mr. Davis was dressed in a military uniform and Ella looked at Deaton for his answer.

"Absolutely."

"Kyle was in ROTC with Boyd." Stiles informed them as he placed the picture on the desk for Lydia and Deaton to see.

Ella had a feeling that Stiles hadn't gone to any of his classes that day, despite their father's order, and had instead spend it looking for clues about the new sacrifice. At least his day had been productive.

"That's gotta be it. That's the pattern." Deaton said with a finger pointed at the picture and Ella didn't know whether to feel slightly relieved or scared.

Maybe they could stop the last sacrifice, but the next victim could be almost anybody and she had a feeling they didn't have much time.

"Where's Boyd?" Ella questioned worriedly, when she realized he could be next and Stiles quickly found his phone in his pocket.

"He's probably home right now. I'm gonna try and get him on the phone." Stiles said in a rushed voice and was already lifting the phone to his ear, when an expression on Lydia's face made Ella and Deaton look at her.

"Lydia?" Ella asked quietly, hoping that her voice wouldn't interrupt whatever the girl was thinking.

"I was, uh, I mean-" Lydia stammered uncertainly and paused, pressing her lips together to recollect herself. "I just thought of someone else with a military connection."

"Who?" Stiles asked as he lowered his phone and ended the call to Boyd.

"Mr. Harris."

"I think he's still here. He was complaining in the teachers' longue about having to grade papers." Ella told them quickly and they all glanced at each other before they ran out of the room.

The chemistry room was empty, when they reached it; slightly out of breath and panicked. Mr. Harris' desk was cleared and it didn't look like he had even been there after classes had ended.

"This is just one of many possibilities." Deaton said as he picked up the plague on the desk reading 'A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.'

Stiles was quickly at the desk, while Ella and Lydia glanced around the empty room without finding any clues.

"Maybe he went home?" Ella suggested as she watched Stiles from the other side of the desk, but she was immediately proven wrong, when Stiles found a large bag under the desk.

"Yeah, well, what about this?"

Stiles didn't hesitate to open it and started looking through the stack of papers he found inside. Looking through the documents herself, Ella realized it was the papers he had complained about having to grade.

"What?" Deaton asked when Stiles paused and they all frowned as he showed them a paper graded 'R'.

"That's not a real grade." Ella pointed out unnecessarily and reached into the stack of papers, when she noticed only a handful of them had been graded.

"An H." Lydia said as she held up another paper and Ella looked through the rest of them.

"Well, these seem right. There are two A's, a D and a C." Ella spoke and had barely put them back down before Deaton took them from her; rearranging the papers frantically as a fearful look appeared in his dark eyes.

"Stiles, you remember I told you druid was the Gaelic word for 'wise oak'?" Deaton asked as he looked at a spot just to the left of Ella, avoiding their gazes.

"Yeah." Stiles replied almost hesitantly and shared a quick look with Ella and Lydia. The girls didn't know what Deaton had told Stiles already, but by the look on his face it wasn't anything good.

"If a druid went down the wrong path the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a dark oak. There's a Gaelic word for that as well." Deaton told, looking down at the papers in front of him. Ella really didn't like where this was going. "Darach."

The dark tone in Deaton's voice made Ella lean in over the desk to look at the papers and she couldn't help but shiver, when she saw the graded papers spell out 'DARACH'.

"He knew. Mr. Harris knew and he was taken." she concluded and was met by a tense silence.

"Virgins and warriors." Lydia spoke quietly and then looked at Deaton for answers. "Who's next?"

"I don't know."

* * *

 _Fear no more the heat o' the sun,  
_ _Nor the furious winter's rages_

Ella went to Erica's funeral with Stiles on Tuesday, even though she had only known the girl from the pictures that had hung around town during the summer.

It was a solemn affair and the turn-out was despairing. Scott was there with Allison and Lydia, while Isaac and Boyd stood side by side. Derek stood in the back with Cora.

It was easy to tell that Boyd was taking the loss of his friend hard, but it was the loud sobs of Erica's mother that cut Ella's heart. According to Stiles, Erica had had a strained relationship with her parents ever since Derek had bitten her, but losing a child had to be devastating no matter the circumstances.

Losing her mother had almost broken Ella and her family, but Erica had only been a child; her whole life ahead of her. It was unnatural. A child dying before their parents was wrong. No matter what kind of "better place" Erica had gone to; it was just wrong.

 _Thou thy worldly task hast done,  
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages_

Heather's funeral took place two days later and it seemed to Ella that most of the juniors at Heather's high school had come.

Ella held her brother's hand through the ceremony and tears fell freely during the priests beautiful speech. Afterwards she hid her face in her father's shoulder, not caring about how her ruined make-up might stain his suit.

The wake was possibly worse and Ella almost wished that she could have left with Scott after the ceremony. Young men and women, _children_ , were crying all around her, mourning the senseless death of their friend. She was too young. They were too young.

Ella hugged Heather's parents as tightly as she possibly could, hoping to take away some of their pain; almost wishing she was a werewolf and didn't have to only imagine she was any comfort to them. They had lost their daughter. It was wrong, unnatural.

It was death. They were gone, too soon.

 _Golden lads and girls all must,  
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust._


	9. To die, to sleep

**I own nothing except for my own characters**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

 _"_ _To die, to sleep.  
_ _To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub,  
_ _For in that sleep of death what dreams may come  
_ _When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,  
_ _Must give us pause."_

William Shakespeare, _Hamlet_

* * *

" _Derek is dead._ "

Sleep kept evading Ella as she lay awake in her bed; the same words running through her head over and over again.

" _Derek is dead._ "

It was her brother's voice in her head and she could easily picture the troubled look on his face as he had told her the news. His feelings about Derek's demise had seemed ambivalent and Ella couldn't decide how to take the news either.

She barely even liked the guy. Hell, she had barely known him. But he had fallen to his death in order to save Scott from one of the alphas and Ella thought that maybe that was all she really needed to know about him to understand what kind of person he was.

It had all escalated too quickly according to what Scott had told Stiles over the phone, and Scott's well-intentioned meeting with Deucalion had turned violent, when Derek had showed up to fight the alpha of alphas.

But Deucalion hadn't come alone and when Derek refused to kill Boyd, it had begun the fight that had led to the death of Derek himself.

Ella had been shocked to finally learn why the alpha pack had come to Beacon Hills: to recruit Derek. But for Derek to be a part of Deucalion's pack, he would have to kill his own.

Derek's otherwise inexplicable action of kicking Isaac out of his loft and leaving the boy without a home had suddenly made sense to Ella. Not that she approved, as just telling them what was going on had been better, but she could understand his need to protect those he cared for. And Isaac had instead found a place under Scott's roof.

Ella had told Ophelia about the situation on an afternoon visit to the coffee shop and had been surprised at the blonde's strong reaction.

The detail about how Derek had thrown a glass after Isaac had sent Ophelia to the backroom, where she had proceeded to call the alpha and yell at him for what he done to the already traumatized boy. Apparently, Derek hadn't had much to say in his defense and had silently taking Ophelia's abuse.

 _Ophelia. I need to tell Ophelia._

The thought made Ella uneasy. She didn't understand their strange relationship that had slowly evolved over the last week with Derek keeping a careful eye on Ophelia from afar, while the blonde pretended to be annoyed by his ambiguous presence in her life.

What she did know and understand, though, was that Ophelia's best chance against Deucalion was gone. All that stood between the fairy and the alpha of alphas now was Ella and a group of unprepared teenagers.

Shaking those despairing scenarios out of her mind, she thought about Scott. The teen wolf had been severely hurt during the fight with the alphas and despite Stiles' assurances that he would heal, Ella couldn't help but worry.

In the morning Stiles and Scott, along with Boyd and Isaac, would go to a cross-country meet in another city; creating a safe distance between themselves and the alpha pack.

Ella willfully ignored the fact that she would be somewhat near defenseless if they decided to come after her or Ophelia in the meantime. As far as she knew, they didn't yet know about Ophelia's existence and couldn't possible find Ella useful.

 _Maybe now, with Derek dead, they'll leave Beacon Hills._

It was wishful thinking and even if the pack did leave, they still had the human sacrifices to deal with. No one had been taken since the police had found Mr. Davis dead only a few days earlier, but that didn't ease Ella's mind at all.

With a loud exhale Ella closed her eyes and imagined her troubled thoughts floating away on a cloud.

It didn't work.

" _Derek is dead._ "

* * *

"Derek is dead." Ella spoke quietly as she finally got to the end of her story. She had spent the last twenty minutes explaining everything leading up to Derek's fall and had now reached the conclusion.

"What do you mean?" Ophelia asked after a long moment of deafening silence between them and straightened in her seat as she watched Ella intensely.

Ella's classes had finished early that day, around noon, so she had gone to the coffee shop to tell her friend about Derek. Figuring out how to tell the blonde about his death hadn't been easy.

She couldn't tell her in the shop and had managed to convince Ophelia to leave the management of the shop for the day to someone else, so they could go to Ophelia's apartment and talk.

Leah, a fifty-something year old woman, who worked in the shop on weekdays, could easily take care of everything on her own until the younger part-time employees came from school.

"He fell down from a really high place, while fighting one of the alphas." Ella told, repeating the part of the story that had made a panicked look appear in Ophelia's eyes.

"But werewolves heal really fast, so he probably survived." Ophelia pointed out and Ella did her best not to sigh at the determined look in the blonde's eyes. It was like she had decided he couldn't be dead, so he simply wasn't.

"I know, but, O…" Ella tried, but had to pause and close her eyes for a moment. This was more difficult than she thought it would be. "Scott saw him die. I'm sorry, but he's dead."

"Where's the body?" Ophelia questioned to Ella's surprise and the blonde watched her patiently, while she tried to think of a new way to convince Ophelia, because they didn't actually have the body.

"It's gone." Ella revealed with a small sigh and a smile tugged in the corner of Ophelia's mouth. "But the alphas probably took it. One of theirs died as well because of the fall."

"What would they want with Derek's body?"

"I don't know!" Ella exclaimed loudly and threw her hands into the air, making Ophelia flinch at the sudden movement. Ella took a deep breath to calm herself and then grabbed her friend's hand to make her listen.

"I know it's hard to accept and that the two of you were somehow… I don't know, connected. But Derek is dead. He died. I'm sorry, but he did."

"I don't believe that." Ophelia spoke as she rose from her sofa, pulling her hands from Ella's, and walked briskly into her small kitchen. "And what do you mean me and Derek are 'connected'? We barely even know each other."

"That doesn't stop you from flirting with him, or yelling at him, or acting like you think he's really annoying, even though you secretly like him and want to sleep with him." Ella called after her from her seat on the sofa, when she realized that, as of now, she couldn't convince Ophelia that Derek was dead.

"That is so not true!" Ophelia gasped as she appeared in the kitchen doorway with a bag of dog food, which she poured into Buffy's bowl. The dog sat diligently beside her owner as she waited for Ophelia to finish.

"Fine. Then tell me why you think Derek is still alive. And don't say because the body is missing or he has werewolf healing, because I know that's not just it. I know you and I know there's more." Ella challenged her and raised her eyebrows impatiently.

"Derek can't be dead, because if he was I would know." Ophelia told after a long moment of hesitation as she sat back down beside Ella. "I'm not sure how, but I _know_ he's not dead."

"Because you have connection with him." Ella insisted, even though she wasn't convinced at all that Ophelia was right.

"I don't know what I have with Derek! I just know he can't be dead."

"Let's test it." Ella said suddenly and pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans as she stood from the sofa.

"What?" Ophelia asked with a dumbfounded expression on her face and it took her a few seconds to follow Ella out of the apartment.

"We're going to see the place where it happened and then you can tell me if you still think he's alive." Ella explained as they walked down the stairs from the third floor, while writing a text on her phone.

She knew that she was being insensitive towards Ophelia by forcing her to accept Derek's fate this way. But her stubbornness and strange way of "knowing" frustrated Ella.

"Where are we going exactly?" Ophelia questioned with an uncertain look in her eyes and started her car. She didn't look comfortable with this new turn of events, but didn't seem to be changing her mind either.

"I've texted Stiles, but turn right here."

Ella had been texting with her brother for most of the day already as he kept her updated on Scott and their bus tour, which involved being confined to a rolling metal box with two murderous werewolves and one of the alpha twins.

Scott hadn't been healing properly, but had claimed it was normal with wounds inflicted by alphas. Boyd and Isaac's self-control had been on a knife's edge, because of the twin, Ethan, and his presence in the bus.

Ella hadn't been surprised, when Stiles had texted her about Allison and Lydia tailing the bus since she hadn't seen them at school that day. As it turned out their presence had been welcome, when Scott's state turned critical and Allison had to stitch him back together.

Last Ella had heard the cross-country meet had been pushed till the next day and Coach Finstock was working on finding a motel for the team to stay overnight.

"Remember the mall that was supposed to open in 2009?" Ella asked Ophelia, breaking the tense silence between them, when she with a bit of blackmailing finally convinced Stiles to tell her where the fight had taken place.

"The one that was never finished because of the crisis? Is that where we're going?"

Ella gave an affirmative nod and Ophelia made a left turn. They were only five minutes away and Ella watched her friend slowly grow more and more tense.

Maybe it was a mistake to take Ophelia there. Maybe it wasn't even safe. But Ella couldn't help but be curious herself. The fact that Derek's body was missing was strange at best and something she couldn't explain.

 _Stop it. Derek is dead. He has to be._

The concrete building, without windows or any other interior except for unmoving escalators, wasn't too eerie in the daylight and the girls only hesitated briefly before walking inside. Dust and rubble were everywhere and trash littered around in some of the corners.

With a careful eye on Ophelia, Ella led them to the second floor where the fight had taken place and paused in the middle of the vast room to take in the damage the walls had taken.

"Is this it?" Ophelia asked quietly as she walked over to a large indent in one of the walls, where it looked like something heavy had been thrown into it with great force.

"Yeah." Ella replied and crouched down to run her fingers through four long lines that reached across the concrete floor. Claws, she figured.

"Where did it happen?"

Ophelia didn't need to tell her what she meant and the brunette glanced around the room curiously. Stiles hadn't told her any details about where Derek had fallen from and there were plenty of high places that would fit.

"I don't know." Ella admitted and looked at Ophelia, who had started moving towards the edge of the room, where the floor stopped and ended in a three story fall if you weren't careful.

"Do you feel anything?" Ella asked carefully, without any intention of mockery, and walked slowly after her friend, who had paused at the edge to look over it.

"No. But it looks like someone was over here fighting." Ophelia told with a finger pointed at the floor around her.

The dust and rumble lay in uneven, round patterns as if they had been pushed away by sweeping feet or someone lying down. Ella looked over the edge after taking a deep breath to stop any sense of vertigo and noticed the escalator right underneath them, leading down to a sublevel floor.

"That's a long fall, Ophelia. You really think he could have survived that?"

Ella took a long step away from the edge to look at her friend, who had a conflicted expression on her face.

"He's not dead."

"How do you know?" Ella sighed and had trouble hiding her frustration with her friend's stubbornness.

"I don't know!" Ophelia exclaimed with an equally frustrated look on her face before an idea seemed to form in her head. "It's like, when Stiles lies and you just _know_. Like some sixth sense that can't be explained."

"A supernatural sixth sense."

"What are you doing here?" a gruff voice called out before Ophelia could reply and both women jumped in fright. Turning around Ella saw Chris Argent coming towards him with a gun in his hand.

"Mr. Argent." Ella greeted in relief, when she managed to find her voice, but the hunter only glared at them.

"Why are you here?" he asked in a demanding tone and let his eyes rest on Ophelia, who glanced uneasily between Ella and Chris.

"To figure out if Derek is actually dead." Ella told him with her arms crossed in front of her, making both Chris and Ophelia look at her in surprise.

"Who is she?" Chris asked with a nod towards Ophelia and apparently chose to ignore Ella's crazy statement.

"My friend, Ophelia."

Ella frowned, when Chris grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Ophelia, but didn't struggle. She watched him curiously as he leaned in and she realized he didn't want Ophelia to hear them.

"Does she know?"

"Of course." Ella replied with a confused expression on her face and glanced over her shoulder at Ophelia, who was staring at them. Did he not know about her?

"This is not a secret you just share with anybody. Tell it to the wrong people and you bring us all in danger." he growled at her and Ella couldn't help but lean away from him.

"You don't know about Ophelia?" she wondered with her eyebrows raised in surprise and an uncertain look appeared in his grey eyes as he glanced at the blonde.

"She knew about werewolves long before I did. She's known the Hales since she was a child." Ella explained as she stepped away from him and moved back to Ophelia. She wasn't sure how much to tell the hunter and glanced at the blonde to make her continue.

"I'm a moon fairy." Ophelia told confidently and met Chris' stare coolly. "My parents left me with the Hales, because they were being hunted by werewolf hunters. Talia Hale hid me away and not even Derek knew what I was until recently."

"A fairy? I didn't know any of you were still alive."

"No thanks to you." Ophelia muttered resentfully and Ella turned her head in surprise to look at her friend.

Ophelia had told her that not only werewolves liked to hunt fairies, but she hadn't imagined that the blonde would have so much animosity towards the hunters. Maybe it was hunters that had been after Ophelia's parents?

"Allison didn't tell you?" Ella asked with a concerned frown as she didn't like the thought of the girl keeping secrets from her dad. In her mind that meant that Stiles might be doing the same to her. Again.

"No." Chris replied curtly and the dark look in his eyes told her that wasn't the only secret being kept from him.

Ella knew about Allison's special appearance at the fight, but hadn't realized she had done it without her father's permission. Or rather despite his orders not to get involved.

"She probably saved their lives." Ella told the hunter before she could stop herself, but didn't look away, when he glared at her. It seemed that she had guessed his thoughts, even though he didn't want to admit he was thinking them.

He didn't answer as he turned away and started searching the large room more carefully than Ella and Ophelia had; examining the evidence of destruction left from the fight.

"If Scott hadn't come here, she wouldn't have had to."

"He was trying to solve things without any violence." Ella argued, feeling offended on Scott's behalf even though she hadn't really liked his plan either. But the hunter had little right to criticize, when all he did was stay out of the whole mess.

"Scott is an omega without a pack. It was naïve of him to come here thinking he had any control over the situation. Especially alone." he told her in an oddly calm tone as he fingered an indent in one the walls.

Sod from what looked like a small explosion surrounded the hole and it took Ella a minute to realize Allison had been probably been the one to leave the mark.

"Scott wasn't alone."

"I didn't mean it like that."

"No, I know exactly what you meant, but you're wrong." Ella spoke confidently and an expression of annoyance crossed his face. "Maybe Scott is a so-called omega, but he's not without a pack and he's definitely not alone."

"Scott has a pack?" the hunter questioned dubiously and Ella hated how he acted like she was some naïve child with fairy tale notions of the supernatural.

She had seen enough already to know there was nothing fairy tale about it, but she believed in Scott McCall with all of her heart. He might not be an alpha, but he wasn't just any lone werewolf either.

"Yes. He has Isaac-"

"Isaac is in Derek's pack." Chris interrupted, not taking into account that the alpha was dead.

"He has _Isaac_ ," Ella started over in a stern voice and met the hunter's glare.

Technically, Isaac was Derek's beta, but she knew that the werewolf's loyalty had slowly started to shift after Derek had kicked him out of the loft.

"And he has Stiles, your daughter, Lydia-"

"Lydia?" Chris interrupted her once more and Ella could see the genuine confusion in his eyes. He knew as little about Lydia as they did.

"She's something." Ella replied with a dismissive wave of her hand and the hunter raised an eyebrow in return, but didn't say anything.

"He's got Deaton," Ella told, choosing to trust the veterinarian despite the misgivings she knew Stiles had about him, and then took a deep breath before continuing. "And me."

"And how are you going to defend yourself against a pack of alpha werewolves?"

"Well, I know how to shoot a gun."

"You what?!" Ophelia exclaimed from behind her and Ella made a grimace as she looked back at her friend. She suddenly remembered that only a handful of people knew that about her and they all lived in San Francisco.

"How did you learn?"

"I dated a soldier for a few months." Ella replied with a shrug and didn't feel like explaining how she had learned to shoot mainly just to get his attention. Not very feministic of her, but he had been worth it.

"And my dad's the sheriff, so I've gone with him to the range a couple of times just to try it. And while I'm not a perfect shot, I'm not half bad either."

"But you hate guns."

"I hate our gun laws, but not guns."

"It doesn't matter that you know how to shoot a gun if you don't have a gun to shoot with. Or a license to carry one." Chris interrupted as he walked towards her and Ella watched with a frown as he pulled his handgun from the holster hidden under his jacket.

"Those are not that hard to get." Ella argued without taking her eyes off the gun. She didn't think he would shoot her, but was curious about what he meant to do with it.

"Show me." he told her as he offered her the gun with the muzzle pointed towards himself and Ella's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Show me what 'not half bad' means." he practically ordered her, making Ella reach out for the gun without really thinking about what she was doing.

"In here?" she questioned hesitantly with a look around the room and then glanced down at the gun in her hand. The semi-automatic felt heavier than the ones she had tried shooting with before.

"Yes."

"No, but seriously." Ella said uncertainly and couldn't help but look back at Ophelia as if she would be able to make sense of what was happening. The blonde only shrugged. "Won't someone hear and call the police?"

"There's no one around to hear."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Hit that mark over there."

"That column way over there?" Ella asked with a finger pointed towards a concrete column that stood about fifteen meters from her. It was a bit longer than she had shot before and the target was only about a meter wide.

"In the middle." Chris elaborated as he moved to stand a couple of steps behind her and reached out for her hand with the gun in it. Slowly, he lifted it so it was aimed where he had placed the target and let go of her.

"Remember when I said I wasn't a perfect shot?" Ella reminded him with a glance over her shoulder, but kept the gun raised.

"Anytime you like, Miss Stilinski." was all he said with a nod that told her to look forward as he took another step away from her. He was now standing beside Ophelia, who looked very uncomfortable with the whole situation.

"It's Ella." she told him quietly as she wrapped her left hand around her right one, which was holding the gun, and clicked off the safety. Taking a deep breath, she raised the gun a little higher and aimed.

"Chris."

His voice almost drowned in the sound of the gun firing as Ella pulled the trigger and the bullet made its impact with the concrete target.

"That was really loud." Ophelia complained with her fingers in her ears, but was ignored as Ella and Chris went over to see where the bullet had lodged itself in the column.

"Not bad." Chris noted brusquely as he looked at the damage she had done to the concrete and took his gun back, when she offered it to him.

"Not perfect either."

Ella might have hit the column, but the bullet hadn't hit anywhere near the middle. Instead it had taken a large piece of the left corner as she had only just managed to hit her target.

"No. And the next time your target might be moving."

"But you believe I'm able to defend myself?"

"Not against Deucalion. Which is why Scott and all of you should stay out of this."

"And do what exactly? Just let them maim and kill people?" Ella exclaimed and threw her hands into the air in frustration.

She understood, more than he probably knew, that Chris wanted his daughter safe, but not doing anything seemed impossible at this point. Especially, when it came to Scott. He wasn't going to just give up, when lives were in danger.

"I might be new to this whole werewolf thing, but I've known Scott since he was six and this is not something he'll just let go. And if Scott is going to put his own life in danger, I can promise you I'll be there to make sure he doesn't lose it. So will your daughter and my brother."

Chris didn't give her an answer as he simply glared at her, but Ella forced herself not to shrink backwards. She knew she was right. No matter how much the whole situation scared her, she knew that they couldn't just do nothing.

And while Chris was scared that his daughter might get hurt, at least she knew how to use a bow and arrow. Stiles knew nothing of the sort. All her brother had was his wit and sarcasm, and that wouldn't do him much good against a 6'5'' alpha werewolf.

"And me." Ophelia said as she came to stand beside Ella with her arms crossed in front of her. The blonde made an elegant flick with her wrist, when Chris looked at her doubtfully, and smiled. "I know a few tricks."

"You're also the one in most danger from Deucalion." the hunter warned and Ophelia's shoulders fell slightly. "And the only one who might have a chance of protecting you is dead."

"Is he, though?"

Ophelia's question sounded perfectly innocently and she watched Chris with a tilt of her head. He was suddenly reminded what Ella had told him about their presence in the abandoned building and he frowned at the two girls.

"You think Derek is alive?"

"We don't know." Ella replied at the same time as Ophelia uttered a confident "yes", and she did her best to hold back a frustrated sigh.

"But, and I can't believe I'm actually asking, would it in any way be possible for an alpha werewolf to survive a, let's say, sixty feet fall? With the landing place probably being an escalator?"

Ella almost felt silly for asking because surviving a sixty feet drop would take a miracle for any human being. But Derek wasn't human and Ella didn't know enough about werewolves to decide whether Ophelia could actually be right.

And maybe if Chris told them it was impossible to survive, she would accept Derek's fate and move on. Preferably even move away and get to safety, so Ella wouldn't have to worry every minute of the day about her.

"He could have survived it and crawled away." Chris told them after a moment's pause and a smile tugged in the corner of Ophelia's mouth. "Maybe he's hiding somewhere and healing."

Ella could almost feel the hope that blossomed inside of Ophelia at the hunter's words and couldn't help but feel a little comforted herself. Maybe she was right. Maybe Derek was alive.

"Or bleeding to death."

And with those words any sense of relief left the girls.

* * *

Ella felt drained, when she finally got home and threw herself on her bed. Her father wasn't home and she seemed to have lost her appetite, so she decided to skip dinner completely. All she needed was sleep.

It wasn't physical, but mental exhaustion that made her head feel heavy and her mind wouldn't keep quiet as she closed her eyes to rest.

It had taken her almost an hour to convince Ophelia not to go look for the possibly alive and wounded Derek, and she still wasn't sure whether she had actually succeeded.

It wasn't safe for Ophelia to be anywhere close to Derek, dead or alive, after what Stiles had texted about Ennis haven survived the fall. The alpha pack might be out for revenge and if they found her with a defenseless Derek, she was as good as dead.

Besides, they had no idea where to look for him. Ophelia had had some suggestions and Stiles could probably have offered some help as well, but Ella had forced her friend to go home and stay indoors.

She had even convinced Ophelia to put faith in her own powers and strange way of knowing that Derek was still breathing. Whether Ella believed Ophelia was right or not was a whole other case.

Ella's eyes shot open, when her phone started vibrating in the pocket of her shorts and she quickly accepted the call, when she saw her brother's name on the screen.

"If it's someone dying again, I'm really not in the mood."

Her greeting was met by an unamused snort from Stiles on the other end of the line and she felt herself grow calmer, when he didn't break into a panicked rant.

" _We're fine. No one's dying._ "

Ella had a strange feeling that Stiles purposely had kept the word "yet" to himself. The human sacrifices had definitely rattled him and he seemed to be in a constant state of trying to figure out whodunit and who was next. Because there would definitely be a next.

"And Scott?"

" _He's healing. He's just pulled the stitches out. It was super gross._ "

" _You didn't have to look._ " Ella heard Scott say in the background and she sighed tiredly as they started bickering.

" _Well, I was talking to you and you didn't warn me. And you could have waited till we got home or something._ "

" _But they were itching._ "

"Boys!" Ella called into the phone and ignored Stiles' yelp of pain at her shouting. "Can you two discuss this later, so we can finish this call and I can sleep?"

" _Fine._ " Stiles murmured disgruntled and Ella rolled her eyes at his moodiness. " _Coach found a motel for us to stay at. The Glen Capri. I'm ninety-nine percent sure my face is gonna be eaten by a rat while I sleep._ "

"That bad?"

" _Worse._ "

"Scott, is he exaggerating?" Ella asked the werewolf, knowing he could hear her, and Stiles let out an offended sound, when his friend gave a positive reply. "It's just one night, Stiles."

" _A lot can happen in one night._ "

"So, what do you wanna know?" Ella asked, when Stiles' words were followed by an awkward silence, even though she was already pretty sure she knew the reason for his call.

" _Can't I just call to check up on my big sister? You know, some family bonding._ "

"You wanna know about what happened at the mall, right?"

" _Yes._ " Stiles admitted without hesitation and didn't seem the least concerned with upholding his pretense for calling.

"You might as well put me on speaker." Ella suggested as she did the same on her phone and placed it on her bed beside her head, so she could lie down and talk. She waited until she heard Stiles' phone being placed on a hard surface before continuing.

"We met Chris." she revealed casually, finding it a bit weird to use his first name, but he had given her permission and she was an adult after all. Adults called other adults by their first names, right?

" _Allison's dad?_ " Scott asked with surprise coloring his voice and Ella found herself nodding before she opened her mouth to answer. " _Does he know about Allison being there?_ "

"Yeah, and he wasn't too happy about it. But don't worry, he'll get over it."

" _He'll get over it?_ " Stiles questioned doubtfully.

"He'll realize that the best way to protect Allison is to help her help you."

" _How do you know?_ "

"Because I did. I can't stop you, so I might as well join you." Ella spoke softly, hoping to reassure them that they weren't alone in this mess of a situation.

" _Speaking of help, have you found anything new on the sacrifices?_ " Stiles questioned and Ella let out a small sigh.

"No. It's hard to find anything, when you don't really know what you're looking for. I have no suspects so far."

" _I have four._ " Stiles told her and Scott and Ella quickly sat up in her bed in surprise.

" _Four? You have four suspects?_ " Scott questioned incredulously and he was obviously just as startled by Stiles' revelation as Ella was.

" _Yeah, it used to be ten. Well, nine technically, I guess. I had Derek on there twice._ " Stiles quickly explained, making Ella frown at his words.

"You've had nine suspects, including Derek, and didn't think I should know that? He's been hanging around Ophelia's shop for like a week." Ella hissed at her brother, feeling annoyed that he had kept it from her.

" _Well, he's dead now, so that doesn't really matter, does it?_ " Stiles snapped back and an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Ella suddenly realized she hadn't told them about Ophelia's refusal of that fact.

"Actually, about that…" she spoke hesitantly and exhaled slowly through her nose before continuing. "Ophelia thinks, or should I say, is certain he's alive."

" _She thinks he survived?_ " Scott asked and his voice carried enough hope to make Ella wince. She knew he blamed himself for Derek's death, but didn't want to give him any false hope.

"According to herself, she _knows_ he did. Don't ask me to explain it, it's too weird."

" _Okay, so Derek might be alive._ " Stiles said without revealing how he felt about that and Ella fell back onto her bed.

"Maybe. A _small_ maybe."

" _But there's a chance._ "

"Yes." Ella finally sighed and decided to change the topic. "So who are your four suspects?"

" _Harris is number one. Just because he's missing, doesn't mean he's dead._ "

" _So if he's not dead, our chemistry teacher is out secretly committing human sacrifices._ " Scott said with obvious doubt in his voice and Ella had to agree with the teen wolf.

Harris was an asshole from what she had learned about him, but him being a murderer was a bit of a stretch. On the other hand, his body was yet to be found, but Ella didn't think they would have to wait much longer for that to happen.

" _Yeah, I guess that just sounded way better in my head._ "

" _But what if it's someone else from school? Like remember Matt? We didn't know that he was killing people._ " Scott suggested, when Stiles realized how absurd his suspicions sounded.

" _Excuse me? I'm sorry, what?_ " Stiles exclaimed and Ella heard the coils of a bed creak, meaning he had either sat down or stood up from it. Knowing her brother, it was probably the latter.

" _I- yes, we did. I called that from day one, actually._ "

" _Yeah, but we never really seriously thought that it was Matt._ " Scott argued calmly despite how genuinely upset Stiles sounded.

" _I was serious!_ " Stiles almost yelled at his best friend and Ella could feel a headache slowly forming in her left temple. " _I was quite serious, actually. Deadly serious! No one listened to me._ "

"Stiles!" she interrupted before the boys could start an argument and brought the conversation back on track. "Who are the other three?"

" _Derek's sister, Cora. No one knows anything about her and she's Derek's sister._ "

"Again, with Derek!" Ella groaned and threw a hand into the air, even though they couldn't see it.

"Mind giving me a heads up on who's where on the trustworthy scale next time I decide there's no harm in letting my best friend near a potential serial killer?"

" _I've told you about Derek. We don't trust him._ "

" _You don't trust him._ " Scott interjected and Stiles was either scowling at him or rolling his eyes.

"And you haven't told me. Just that he used to be really creepy and murder-ish and now he's less creepy and murder-ish."

Ella knew Derek's story, of course, and didn't particularly like it. But until her brother said it, she would never have suspected him for the sacrifices.

" _Yeah, well, now you know._ "

" _The next suspect?_ " Scott urged before a fight could start between the two siblings and Ella made an effort to calm down.

" _Your boss._ " Stiles sighed, knowing that Scott wouldn't like what he had to say.

They only thing that made the veterinarian suspicious in Ella's mind was how little she knew about him.

" _My boss?_ "

" _Yeah, your boss. I don't really like the whole Obi Wan thing he's got going on. Freaks me out._ " Stiles explained and Ella knew he had lost Scott with the Star Wars reference, when a brief moment of silence ensued.

Scott still not having seen Star Wars after being best friends with Stiles for so many years had over time become the bane of her brother's existence.

" _Oh my God, have you still not seen Star Wars?_ "

" _I swear if we make it back alive I will watch the movie._ " Scott assured his friend in an amused tone and Ella hoped Stiles wouldn't start ranting about how it was more than just one movie.

" _It just makes me crazy._ " she vaguely heard Stiles mutter and rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"Focus, Stiles. Who's the last one?"

" _Lydia._ " Stiles sighed heavily and the bed creaked again as he sat down. " _She was totally controlled by Peter and she had no idea, so…_ "

"It can't be Lydia." Ella said without giving much thought to Stiles' reasoning. Sure, it made sense, but it couldn't be Lydia.

" _Just because we don't want it to be her-_ " Stiles argued weakly and let his sister interrupt him without a fight.

"She doesn't have the strength. I know she was bitten by Peter and we don't know what that did to her, but wouldn't someone have noticed if Lydia suddenly became unnaturally strong?" Ella reasoned and didn't give them the opportunity to object by pausing to breathe.

"Four of the victims have been grown men, three of them with military training. Lydia is five-foot-three and walks around in four inch heels. How could she possibly take on any of them? Or let alone carry them to the crime scenes?"

" _She managed to take down Derek._ " Stiles said after the boys had spent a long moment mulling over her words.

"With wolf's bane because he's a werewolf. As far as we know, none of the victims were supernatural."

" _She's right, you know._ " Scott silently told his best friend and Ella didn't know whether or not she was supposed to have heard him.

Stiles' reply was only an indistinguishable mumble and she knew the two of them probably needed time to talk alone.

"Just be careful, okay?" Ella cautioned, when they didn't seem to have any more to tell her. "With Ethan, with Lydia, with everyone. Just stay in your room, don't go looking for trouble and then we'll figure out what to do, when you get home, okay?"

" _Sure, mom._ "

"I don't even take that as an insult, you know."

" _I know._ "

"Bye."

" _Bye._ "

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

 _The air around her felt stale as she stepped out of the empty school bus and unto the ground. Her feet were bare, she noticed with a frown and a wiggle of her toes. A gust of wind tickled her skin and made her realize that she was in the clothes she had fallen asleep in; cotton shorts and a tank top._

 _Which was strange, because she was sure that earlier she had been in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She distinctly remembered the blood splattering across her denim-clad legs, when she had shot and killed someone. She couldn't remember who, but she remembered the sound. And the blood._

 _She had escaped the scene in a self-driving empty school bus and had ended up here. At the Glen Capri Motel, she read from a large neon sign. It was familiar somehow. But she didn't recognize the horseshoe building standing in front of her and didn't think she had come there as a child._

 _It took Ella a few moments to realize that something felt wrong. Like her dream wasn't just a dream any more. Because she knew that the rest of it had been a dream. The shooting, the self-driving school bus; it wasn't real. But this. This didn't feel like a dream._

 _She couldn't just sense the ground underneath her feet, she could_ feel _it. And the air, the oxygen she breathed into her lungs, was real. The small gust of wind that made goosebumps appear on her arms. The surrounding atmosphere that made a shiver run down her spine._

 _It wasn't a dream. But it had to be. She couldn't be wherever this was. Not when she was sleeping in her bed in Beacon Hills._

 _A familiar figure suddenly appeared, running towards her and Ella's breath caught in her throat. Her brother stopped right in front of her, looking at her with wide eyes and a panicked expression on his face. What was he doing in her non-dream?_

 _"_ _Ella?" Stiles whispered as he looked her over and then lifted his hand as if to touch her._

 _He let it fall before he could reach her and violently shook his head as if to get rid of something. She reached out to stop him, when it looked like he was about to lose his balance, but he quickly stepped away from her._

 _"_ _You're not real, you're a hallucination. You're not here." Stiles muttered to himself as moved around her and went inside the school bus._

 _"_ _Stiles?" she called worriedly as he frantically searched through a compartment in front of the bus, looking for something important._

 _He willfully ignored her as he kept mumbling about her not being there, but had to face her again, when he finally found what he was looking for. In his hand he had two emergency road flares and Ella opened her mouth to ask what they were for, when he interrupted her._

 _"_ _This doesn't even make sense. I'm not a werewolf, I shouldn't be seeing things. I don't feel like killing myself either, though, so that's good. Must be a good sign." Stiles rambled as he jumped off the bus and walked around her._

 _His talk about suicide made Ella's blood freeze, but he didn't allow her to ask what was wrong as he glared at her with a pointed finger._

 _"_ _You're not my sister."_

 _With those words Stiles sprinted back towards the motel and Ella was left to stare after him. Should she follow him?_ Could _she follow him? Why was Stiles part of this weird dream that wasn't a dream she was having? And if it wasn't a dream, then what was it?_

 _Before Ella managed to make a decision about following her brother someone else was making his way towards her. Her feet moved forwards on their own, when she recognized Scott, but he didn't seem to notice her at all._

 _"_ _Scott?" she questioned softly as she stopped right in front of him, but was pushed away by some invisible force, when he walked past her. It almost felt like he had walked right through her. Like she was a ghost._

 _She called his name again as she ran after him and was startled to see the vacant look in his eyes, when she once again stopped in front of him. Scott still didn't notice her and Ella stepped out of the way on her own this time._

 _His movements were much slower and more deliberate than Stiles' had been as he started searching the bus as well. Her heart beat quickened, when he exited the bus with a road flare in one hand and a bottle of gasoline in the other._

 _"_ _What are you doing? Scott? What are you going to do with that?"_

 _The werewolf still weren't listening and Ella was starting to doubt whether it was because she wasn't visible to him or if he was in some kind of trance. She tried to take the bottle of gasoline from his hand as he walked past her, but it slipped out of her fingers as if it was covered in oil._

 _"_ _Scott, listen to me. Stop this! Whatever you're doing, you need to stop!" she yelled at him and watched in horror as he screwed the cap of the bottle and poured the gasoline on the ground around him._

 _When he raised it to pour it over himself Ella stepped into the pool and tried to grab the bottle once again. She still couldn't get ahold of it and started to panic. She was standing right in front of him, but he couldn't see her._

 _"_ _Scott! Snap out of it!" she screamed at him and for a moment his eyes seemed to focus. But it didn't stop him from pouring the gasoline over himself and Ella did the only thing she could think of._

 _Her hand burned from the impact with Scott's cheek, while he barely seemed to feel anything. But his eyes landed on her for a long moment and there was a flash of surprise in his brown eyes, which then quickly dissipated._

 _"_ _Don't do this. Please. Just give me the flare and we'll get you cleaned up. You don't have to do this, Scott." Ella pleaded the boy, whose clothes and hair were now dripping with gasoline. Slowly, she tried to reach for the flare, but Scott moved it away._

 _"_ _I have to do this." Scott muttered to himself and Ella realized she had lost him again. "I have to die, so they won't."_

 _"_ _No. If you die, then the rest of don't stand a chance, do you hear me? Scott, we need you." Ella told with a trembling voice and her vision became blurry as tears started forming in her eyes._

 _"_ _No one needs me. I am no one."_

 _Ella tried desperately to reach to the flare once more, but Scott had already lit it before she could do anything. The flare's red light created an eerie glow around them and Ella could feel the heat from the spark on her face._

 _She couldn't get through to him. He couldn't even see her and was barely able to hear her voice. She needed to find someone. She needed to find Stiles._

 _But it could be a dream. It could all be a nightmare and Scott wasn't actually about to set himself on fire. This could just be an extreme case of lucid dreaming. A nightmare she couldn't wake up from._

 _It wasn't, though. While everything about it screamed nightmare, nothing reassured her that it wasn't real. Even the impossibility of the whole thing wasn't enough to convince her._

 _She needed to find Stiles. He had seen her. Probably heard as well, even though he had ignored her. But she had no idea where he had gone. And the way Scott was looking she didn't have time to search through the motel._

 _Finally deciding what to do, Ella took a deep breath and screamed. When her voice died out, she felt desperation overwhelm her. Scott hadn't even flinched and it seemed like she had been screaming into a void. No one had heard her._

 _The sound of footsteps hurrying towards them made her spin around and she felt a small sense of relief, when she saw Stiles, Allison and Lydia. Her eyes immediately met Stiles' frightened ones and she realized she was still standing in the gasoline pool, when his eyes shifted to her feet._

 _"_ _There's no hope." Scott told his friends in a broken voice and the fear Ella felt was reflected in their eyes. She turned her gaze from her brother to look at Scott; staring at the burning flare in his hand._

 _"_ _What do you mean, Scott? There's always hope." Allison urged with a shake of her head, taking a step forward._

 _"_ _Not for me, not for Derek."_

 _"_ _Derek wasn't your fault." Allison told with a trembling voice and looked searchingly at her ex-boyfriend, hoping to catch his gaze. "You know Derek wasn't your fault."_

 _"_ _Every time I try to fight back it just gets worse, people get hurt. People keep getting killed."_

 _"_ _Scott, listen to me. This isn't you. This is someone inside your head telling you to do this." Stiles tried to convince his best friend as he stepped forward._

 _Ella stepped towards her brother, fearing that he would get too close to the gasoline, and his eyes shifted to her. She couldn't tell whether he still believed she was some kind of vision, Ella wasn't even sure herself, but he had to know she didn't want to hurt him._

 _"_ _What if it isn't? What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing I can do for everyone else?"_

 _"_ _No, Scott! Don't you dare!" Ella yelled as she spun around to look at Scott, who looked more helpless than ever. Like he genuinely believed taking his own life would be the right thing to do._

 _"_ _Ella." she heard her brother breathe behind her, but didn't dare take her eyes of Scott._

 _"_ _Remember the way it was before the night I got bitten?" Scott asked Stiles without being able to look at his friends and Ella could feel how tears started running down her cheeks._

 _She felt a strong urge to take Scott into her arms and never let go. To never again let him feel what he did this moment. But she couldn't. For some reason she couldn't touch him in this non-dream._

 _"_ _You remember the way it was before that, you and me. We were nothing. We weren't popular, we weren't good at lacrosse." Scott continued and his voice shook with his body as despair seeped into every inch of him._

 _"_ _We were no one. We weren't important. Maybe I should just be no one again. No one at all."_

 _Ella couldn't stop the sob that left her, when Scott moved the flare as if to drop it and instinctively she turned to look at Stiles. Tears were travelling down his cheeks as he stared weakly at his best friend and Ella felt her heart break even more._

 _"_ _Scott, just listen to me, okay." Stiles spoke as he slowly stepped forward and Ella's eyes were fixed on his feet as they moved closer to the gasoline._

 _"_ _You're not no one. You're someone, you're… Scott, you're my best friend, okay, and I need you. Scott, you're my brother."_

 _Ella's heart jumped to her throat, when Stiles briefly looked at her and then shifted his eyes to his feet. She knew what he was going to do, she knew he had to if they wanted to save Scott, but she couldn't help herself._

 _"_ _Stiles, don't. Please don't do it." she begged even though she hated herself for it._

 _She was being selfish by trying to stop him, but Stiles was her brother and no matter how much she loved Scott, she couldn't sacrifice Stiles for him._

 _"_ _I have to. You know I have to." Stiles whispered as he met her gaze and Ella stared with wide eyes as he acknowledged her presence by carefully reaching for her._

 _Ella nodded slowly, knowing she couldn't stop him, as she tryingly took his hand. Her heart jumped, when she felt his clammy hand envelop hers and there was a flash of surprise in Stiles' eyes before he turned his attention back to Scott._

 _"_ _Ella?" she heard Lydia gasp behind them and Ella looked over Stiles' shoulder to find the redhead staring at her._

 _A brief glance at Allison told her that she still couldn't see her as the girl frowned at Lydia. Ella didn't have time to think about what that meant, when Stiles slowly moved forward._

 _"_ _If you're gonna do this," Stiles said as he took a deliberate step into the pool of gasoline to join Scott and Ella, "you just gonna have to take me with you, then."_

 _Ella's grip on Stiles' hand tightened to the point she was sure she was hurting him, but her brother was fully concentrated on Scott as he slowly reached for the flare._

 _Scott didn't fight back as Stiles took it from his hand and threw it away, and he started gasping for breath as he snapped out his trance. Relieved, Ella let go of her brother's hand and took a step back to give the boys some space._

 _All Ella heard before she was suddenly pushed to the ground was Lydia's scream and she felt her head impact with the ground as she landed on her back beside Stiles and Lydia._

 _A large fire lit up the dark as the flare ignited the gasoline and Ella managed to lift herself to an elbow. Inside the flames a scarred and pale figure rose from the ground and Ella felt herself being pulled away before she could scream._

Ella's eyes shot open as she awoke from her dream and she placed her hands over her ears as a familiar choir of voices rang in her head; chanting the strange battle cry she had heard twice before.

When the voices faded she registered the pain that radiated from the back of her head and she sat up slowly to let a hand touch where it hurt the most. She couldn't feel anything there other than the headache that was starting to form and she wondered if she had bumped against the head of her bed in her sleep.

Feeling slightly dizzy she carefully swung her legs out of the bed and stood up. The smooth wooden floor underneath her bare feet surprised her for some reason. As if a part of her had expected something else.

The house was completely quiet as she went downstairs to kitchen and she wondered if her father had come home yet. The clock on the wall in the kitchen told her it was just past midnight, so he could easily still be at work; looking for Mr. Harris.

As Ella sat down by the kitchen table, after having poured herself a glass of water and found an aspirin, she noticed how a distinct smell seemed to follow her. As if it was in her clothes or even rubbed into her skin.

"Gasoline?" she muttered to herself as she lifted her top to her nose and sniffed it. "Why do I smell of-"

Ella jumped from her chair, ignoring the brief spell of dizziness the movement caused, and ran back upstairs, when she suddenly remembered. The motel, Stiles, gasoline, _Scott_. Her non-dream.

The reason why she had expected to feel the ground, and not the wooden floor, underneath her feet. The reason why the back of her head hurt. The reason why the smell of gasoline was everywhere, even though her clothes were completely dry.

Her hands shook a little as she made it to her room and grabbed her phone from the table beside her bed. She had no new messages or missed calls, but quickly found her brother's name and felt her heart beat painfully against her ribs as she waited for him to pick up.

" _Ella?_ " Stiles greeted her breathlessly, when he answered after the second ring and she let herself feel a small amount of relief.

"Scott, is he okay? Is everyone okay?" she asked hurriedly and could hear her blood pump in her ears, when Stiles didn't answer right away. "Stiles?"

" _We're okay, El, everyone's safe_."

"I had this dream." Ella told hesitantly after a long moment of silence had passed between them. Just hearing her brother breathing had been enough to calm her. "But it didn't feel like a dream. Scott tried to, he wanted to kill himself."

" _That wasn't a dream._ "

"How did I know you would say that?" Ella laughed humorlessly and sat down on her bed, when she felt her knees grow weak. "Stiles, what's going on? How did I…"

" _I don't know._ " her brother said, when Ella couldn't finish her sentence, and she hated that he was so many miles away. She was scared and she needed him. " _But we'll figure it out, okay?_ "

"Okay."

* * *

It was well past midnight, when Ophelia gave up on falling asleep and got out of bed. Buffy lazily raised her head from where she was sleeping in her dog basket to look at her owner, but was too tired to bother getting up.

Ophelia stood in the middle of her dark living room for over a minute, thinking about what she was about to do, before finally putting on her shoes and grabbing her jacket, phone and keys on her way out of the door.

She knew she was breaking her promise to Ella and that the brunette would scold her for it, but she felt like she was going crazy not knowing. As convinced as she was about Derek's survival there was still that bit of doubt that kept nagging her and kept her from falling asleep. She needed to know.

Ophelia took another moment to think, when she got into her car, but then turned on the ignition. She would only look for him in one place, she told herself. If he wasn't there, she would wait until the morning.

She didn't decide whether she was going to look at the old, burned-down Hale residence in the woods or his loft until she made a turn that brought her in the direction of the latter.

She had never been there, but had managed to get its location out of him the one time he had actually come into the coffee shop in the past week instead of playing 'invisible' guard outside.

The industrial looking building felt threatening in the dark and no light shone from any of the rooms. She sat in her car indecisively for two whole minutes before she finally got out and walked inside.

If Ophelia didn't know better she would have thought the building was abandoned and a shiver passed through her, when she found a light switch and the tall staircase in front of her was bathed in a soft, but eerie light.

Taking a deep breath she started ascending the stairs and paused every once in a while, when she thought she heard something, only to realize it was her own shallow breathing. It wasn't walking up the stair that made breathing harder for her, but the anxiety that had slowly formed in her chest.

Each floor had the same large metal door, but Ophelia remembered Derek's loft was on the top floor, so she continued until she found herself in front of the right one.

Ophelia stood outside, listening for any signs of a presence inside the room, for a long moment before finally knocking. She realized too late that she probably looked like hell in her pink pajamas pants and red trench coat, no make-up on and her loose hair a mess.

But more importantly, there was a chance Derek's sister would be there and Ophelia didn't know if she could trust her. Sure, she was Derek's sister, but Peter was his uncle and Ophelia had made it her mission to stay as far away from him as possible.

She was about to leave, having realized how reckless she had been, when she heard movements on the other side of the door, and she was still contemplating whether she could outrun a werewolf, when the door glided open.

All thoughts of escaping left her mind, when she saw Derek standing in front of her; very alive and very much without a shirt on. For several seconds they just stared at each other and Derek looked just as surprised to see her as she felt about seeing him.

"Oh my God." Ophelia finally managed to get out and remembered that she had to breathe with a sharp inhale. "You're alive."

Her feet and limbs seemed to act on their own as she suddenly charged forward and flung her arms around his neck. A alarm went off in the back of her mind, telling her to let go of him, but when Derek placed his hands on her waist to steady himself, she only tightened her grip.

"I knew you were alive." she whispered more to herself than to him and closed her eyes to just appreciate the warmth of his body and his chest moving against her; proving she had been right.

"Ophelia?" Derek spoke huskily, confusion clear in his voice, and its closeness made Ophelia snap out of her awkward behavior.

Quickly, she removed her arms from around his neck and stepped away. Derek's hands remained on her waist for a couple of seconds longer before he let them fall to his sides and Ophelia took another step back.

"Are you hurt? You're not bleeding out or something, right?" Ophelia fussed as she studied the various and almost healed gashes on his torso and evaded her eyes with a blush, when she realized she was staring at his bare chest.

There was an unreadable expression on his face, when her eyes met his and it almost looked like he was upset she had come to find him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a dismissive tone that made Ophelia take another step back and cross her arms in front of her. "I told you not to come here. It's too dangerous."

"Yeah, well, you've been dead for the last twenty-four hours, so that didn't really count anymore." she replied dryly and the relief she had felt by seeing him alive slowly dissipated in the face of his hostility.

"My death doesn't mean you can put yourself in unnecessary danger."

"Are you seriously lecturing me right now?" Ophelia questioned disbelievingly and then narrowed her eyes, when she realized something.

"Speaking of your death, why the hell haven't you told anyone you're alive? Scott's been blaming himself for the whole thing so much so he couldn't even heal!"

"If the alphas knew I was still alive they might come for me. I needed to heal properly first." Derek explained in a surprisingly calm tone of voice and Ophelia realized she had practically been shouting.

Which in their previous encounters had led to Derek shouting back at her until she made his eyes flash red. Maybe he was just too tired to fight with her.

But there was also something weird about the way he kept almost turning his head to look over his shoulder.

"Right." Ophelia relented sheepishly, feeling slightly stupid for having yelled at him. Derek's secrecy couldn't have been easy for him either and while she still felt bad for Scott, it did seem like the smart thing to do.

"Derek?" a female voice groggily called out from inside the apartment; cutting off the apology Ophelia was about to give as her mouth fell open in shock instead.

Before Derek could do anything to stop her, Ophelia had stepped around him and searched the dark room to find the source of the voice. A bed stood in the corner of the large room and while she wasn't able to identify the woman, she definitely caught a glimpse of pale, naked skin and a brunette head.

"You know, you and I have very different ideas about how to 'heal properly'." Ophelia told him coldly and didn't even bother to look for his reaction as she spun on her heel to leave.

"Ophelia." Derek called after her as he tried to stop her from leaving and she paused in the doorway to glare at him over her shoulder. There was a guilty look on his face that didn't make her feel any better. "I was bleeding out and she helped me back here."

"And then what? You decided to fuck her while the rest of us were mourning you? God forbid you should be bored while playing dead." Ophelia sneered back at him and she could see how her mood was finally getting to him as his eyes hardened. "Screw you, Derek."

Deciding that she didn't want to hear any more of his ridiculous explanations she grabbed the handle on the metal door and began to close it behind her.

With a few feet left she paused to look at him and a brief glance told her she needed to leave soon before he decided to even tie her to a chair and make her listen or throw her out of the window. She didn't know which she preferred.

"And for fuck's sake, call your sister!"

Ophelia slammed the door and was down the stairs before he couldn't even think of following her. Not that she thought he would. He obviously had better things to do.

Halfway down she stopped to breathe and rested her back against the railing, when she suddenly felt nauseous. She was surprised to find that she wasn't crying, but instead felt like her lungs had run out of air. Like she had been punched in the gut.

Ophelia felt hurt and betrayed. Not because of whatever emotional bond she had felt was between them, or because of the connection Ella was so sure had been there, had been broken.

But because she had spent the whole day being worried about him. Because she had desperately clung to the belief that he was alive even though her best friend thought she was crazy. And he didn't care.

He didn't care that his sister thought her only family, safe for a psychotic uncle, was dead. He didn't care that Scott had almost bled to death, blaming himself for what had happened to Derek. He didn't care that his pack, two teenage boys, thought they had lost their alpha right after losing Erica as well.

Some part of her knew that maybe she had overreacted. Maybe she did feel something for Derek and was lying to herself about it. But clearly she didn't know him. Their shared past didn't mean anything. And Derek already had a girlfriend, so she might as well just keep lying to herself.

When she was finally able to breathe properly Ophelia continued down the stairs and found her phone in the pocket of her jacket. Being careful not to fall, she opened a text to Ella and typed three words.

'Derek is alive.'


	10. And worse I may be yet

**I own nothing except for my own characters.**

 _Ella Stilinski - Lily Collins  
Ophelia Lite - Candice King_

* * *

"And worse I may be yet. The worst is not  
So long as we can say 'This is the worst'."

William Shakespeare, _King Lear_

* * *

As it turned out Derek _was_ alive. Ella had gotten Ophelia's text a few minutes after ending her angst-ridden call to Stiles and had immediately called her friend to figure out what she meant. It had to be more than just Ophelia insisting she was right.

She had been right, though, and Ophelia had calmly told Ella about her midnight drive to Derek's loft, where she had found the werewolf alive. And in bed with an unknown woman. Ophelia had taken Ella's scolding quietly, too quiet for Ella's liking, and had hung up with the assurance that they would talk the next day.

Ella knew that something had been bothering her friend, and knew it possibly had something to do with the brunette sleeping in Derek's bed, but had been too preoccupied with her own personal crisis to deal with Ophelia and Derek's weird relationship.

She had then called her brother once again to tell him the news, leaving out the part about Derek's new girlfriend, and had spent a couple of minutes talking to Scott, who had come back to his senses.

He didn't mention having seen or heard her at the motel and neither did Ella. If Stiles hadn't told him about it, he had to have a good reason, and Ella wasn't sure what to tell him anyway. Either way, Scott had had enough of the supernatural for one night already. He didn't need to deal with her problems on top of it all.

* * *

Ella hid a yawn behind her hand as she stood in the parking lot, waiting for a certain school bus to arrive. It had been a long day already and it was only past two, but after the non-dream and the phone calls she had barely gotten any sleep that night.

And with Jennifer calling in sick she had had to teach the classes herself. Which had been a bit daunting, but she thought she had performed admirably giving the circumstances. It helped that the students liked her and that she knew the material like the back of her hand.

She let out an audible sigh of relief, when the yellow bus finally pulled into the parking lot and stopped not far from her. She knew nothing out of the ordinary had happened on the bus ride home, but she felt much better knowing she would soon have her brother in front of her.

It was almost ridiculous how overprotective she had become during the last 24 hours alone, but seeing Scott standing in that pool of gasoline had shocked her to her very core. She hoped for Melissa that she would never learn what had almost happened to her son.

The first person to step out of the bus was the Coach and he inhaled deeply as if he had been without air for hours. She noticed wryly that he was missing his beloved whistle that no longer hung around his neck. Apparently, it had been the cause of the werewolves' momentary insanity.

"Ella." Finstock greeted tiredly as he saw her standing by the door. "Nice to finally see a rational human being again."

"Welcome back, Bobby. How was the trip?" she questioned with a sympathetic smile and he looked at her as if she was mad for even asking.

"Jared puked all over the God damned bus and your brother apparently spent all night in the bus with his little group of misfits _and_ I lost my whistle." Finstock ranted loudly and surprised Ella by handing her a clipboard with a list of names on it. "Here. Make sure everyone's here. I need a drink."

Finstock was gone before Ella could even think of protesting or telling him that checking if everyone was there was something you did before you left the place you had been staying. Hopefully, all students had made it onto the bus and weren't stuck at the creepy motel.

When the first student appeared in the doorway to leave the bus she asked for her name and checked her off the list. She repeated the process – Jared looked like he was about to throw up again – with a welcoming, if a little forced, smile until a certain alpha twin stepped out and her expression turned into a scowl.

Ethan barely seemed to notice her, though, as he hurried away and left behind a confused Danny. The tall boy glanced after the werewolf before greeting Ella with a smile and leaving as well.

After Danny followed Boyd and Isaac, and Ella couldn't help the wide smile that spread on her lips at seeing the boys unharmed.

"I'm so happy you guys are okay." she told them honestly and while Boyd looked slightly uncomfortable with her concern, Isaac, to her surprise, pulled her into a quick, but tight hug. "Go see Derek. He should be at his loft."

Following her advice the two betas left and next came the two girls, who had been blind passengers on the bus. Allison and Lydia looked tired with dark circles under their eyes, but smiled at Ella as they stepped off the bus.

They were both startled, when the older girl wrapped an arm around each their neck and pulled them into a three-way hug. They liked Ella and had become closer with her over the last couple of weeks, but they hadn't expected a hug.

Ella could feel Lydia's watchful gaze on her as she pulled away from the girls, while Allison only blinked in surprise. Lydia had, somehow, seen her at the motel as well, but had, like Stiles, kept quiet about it to her best friend. Ella couldn't tell whether that was a good or bad for her.

When the two girls moved aside Scott was standing right behind them and Ella threw herself at him; propriety be damned. The feeling of never wanting to let go of him, which she had felt in her non-dream, reappeared and she blinked to keep the tears out of her eyes. The image of Scott being ready to set himself on fire had been seared into her brain.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Stiles asked from behind them and Ella glanced over Scott's shoulder to find her brother looking at them with a lopsided smile on his lips.

It didn't reach his eyes, but Ella couldn't get herself to care as she pushed away from Scott and pulled Stiles into a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey, sis, remember how I'm human cause you're kinda bruising my ribs." Stiles groaned, slightly out of breath, but didn't let go of her as she relaxed her grip on him.

"You okay?" he muttered into her ear before she slowly pulled away and she nodded as she sent him a wavering smile.

"Didn't I tell you to stay in your rooms and not get in trouble?" Ella chastised the boys with her arms crossed in front of her, making Stiles roll his eyes.

"How could we know that a crazy druid was gonna try and kill everyone?"

"Point taken."

The small group laughed for a moment until a tense silence fell over them. They were all still marked by the night's events and Ella studied them all with a sad look in her eyes. It was not supposed to be this way. They were too young to carry a burden such as this.

"I still have a class to teach, but you guys go home and get some rest, okay?" she told the teenagers, who nodded without protests. She turned to her brother, who hadn't taken his eyes off her since leaving the bus. "I'll see you at home in couple of hours."

She glanced at them all one more time before she stepped into the bus to make sure there were no one left inside; not noticing the look Stiles and Lydia shared before the group split up.

* * *

Ella arrived home a little after five, having gone to the supermarket after her last class ended. Normally, she would been too tired to do anything but go home and sleep, but their fridge was nearly empty and she knew her father wouldn't have time to shop.

She knew that Stiles hadn't gone to sleep like she had told him to and was waiting for her to come home, but the conversation they were about to have made her nervous, so she took her time unpacking the groceries before she went upstairs with a bowl of chocolate ice cream in her hand.

She had been craving it all day and the cold porcelain against her hand made her feel more focused and awake. It also meant she would have something to do with her hands, when Stiles inevitably started ranting.

Stiles' door was already open, when she arrived and she paused in surprise in the doorway, when a certain strawberry blonde-haired girl caught her attention.

"Lydia, uhm, hey. I didn't know you were here." Ella greeted dumbfounded and forgot about the spoon with ice cream she was holding in mid-air and about to put into her mouth.

Lydia was sitting on Stiles' bed with her hands gathered in her lap and looked as if she felt slightly out of place. As far as Ella knew Lydia hadn't been in Stiles' room since the night of his birthday, where she had eavesdropped on them.

"I want to know what happened last night, so I went home with Stiles." Lydia explained and frowned, when she realized the turn of phrase she had used. Those were probably words she had never expected to hear herself say.

Ella glanced at her brother to see if he had noticed, but he was entirely focused on her and any amusement she had felt over Lydia's words dissipated. She couldn't help but wonder, though, what they had been doing for the last couple of hours while they waited for her to come home.

"Right." Ella muttered slowly and licked the ice cream off her spoon as she decided what to do with herself. In the end she walked over to sit beside Lydia. "So…"

"What do you remember?" Stiles questioned as soon as was sat down and Ella looked down at her bowl of ice cream for a long moment before raising her head to answer.

"I went to sleep and I had a dream I really can't remember, but it was definitely a dream. Then I stepped off the school bus and it didn't feel like a dream any longer. I could sense things. Things you can't normally sense in dreams. And then you were there."

"I thought I was hallucinating."

"Yeah, you told me as much. Said I wasn't your sister."

"Sorry." Stiles replied as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Ella made a gesture with her hand, telling him it didn't matter, and scooped up another spoon of ice cream.

"What then?" Lydia questioned and studied the older girl carefully as she ate her ice cream.

"Stiles left and I didn't know whether to go after him or not. But then… then Scott came walking right towards me. And he looked right through me. It was as if I wasn't even there. And when I tried to touch him it was like some kind of invisible barrier was between us."

"What, like a force field?"

"I guess?" Ella said with a frown and watched as her brother stood up to pace the floor. "I also tried taking the gasoline from him, but it kinda just slipped out of my hands. There was one time, though…"

"One time what?" Stiles inquired as he paused his nervous pacing to look at her and Ella let her spoon fall into the bowl in her hands.

"I was trying to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, couldn't even sense I was there, so I slapped him."

"And you hit him?" Lydia asked without any notion of blame in her voice; only curiosity.

"Yeah. And I don't know, but it was like, for a moment, he could see me."

"Wait, so you Patrick Swayze'd him?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Lydia spoke and shared a look of confusion with Ella before they both turned their eyes back to Stiles.

"You know in Ghost, when he's dead and he can only touch things if he gets really angry or emotional."

"Well, I was pretty desperate. But it doesn't make any sense, Stiles. How could I touch Scott if I was here in my bed the whole time? Speaking of which, why were _you_ the only one, who could hear and see me?"

"I don't know."

"I heard you scream." Lydia revealed quietly after a moment of tense silence and the Stilinski siblings both turned to stare at her.

"You what?!"

"But I thought only Stiles heard me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I heard a lot of things last night that I would really like to forget." Lydia sighed tiredly and Ella reached over to give her arm a comforting squeeze.

Stiles had told everything that had happened, when she had called him after waking up and it turned out that Ella had only witnessed the peak of their horrible night.

Suicide wasn't an uncommon occurrence at the motel they had been staying at and Lydia had somehow heard echoes of those desperate people just before they took their own lives.

"But no one else heard me scream? Just you and Stiles?"

"They didn't see you either." Lydia said with a shake of her head and Ella was reminded how Lydia had suddenly been able to see her after she had taken Stiles' hand.

"But you did. How? Was it the Darach?" Ella asked with her eyes trained on her brother, who had started pacing once again. Giving Stiles a moment to think, she offered Lydia her bowl of ice cream and the girl took it was a brief smile.

"Maybe." Stiles finally sighed and threw his hands into the air before sitting back down in the chair by his desk. "Maybe not."

Ella could easily tell how frustrated he was becoming with not knowing what was going on. With Lydia, the Darach, his sister; the list went on.

"I saw the Darach. I saw her standing in the fire after the gasoline was lit." Ella told them as she watched Lydia scoop of some of Ella's ice cream and eat it. The girl nodded as if to say she had as well.

"Wait, 'her'? Why did you say 'her'?" Stiles asked and immediately straightened in his seat as he stared at his sister with an intense look in his brown eyes. It was like a small light had been turned on behind them; making him look less tired and worn out.

"I don't know." Ella shrugged, but couldn't help but wonder herself why she had automatically thought the Darach was a she. "Equal opportunity and all, I guess. It might as well be a woman as a man."

"Yeah, but you said as if you knew it was a woman." Stiles pointed out and then looked at Lydia, who was busy with the bowl of ice cream in her hands. "Lydia?"

"Hm?"

"You saw the Darach. Was it a woman?"

"I couldn't see. They were just really pale and had large scars on their face. I suppose they could be a woman. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

"But their sex doesn't have anything to do with what happened to me." Ella reminded them and she noticed her brother deflate a bit, because even if that was some sort of tiny clue, it did not explain what had happened to Ella.

"Let's say you could see and hear me because you're my brother." she hypothesized with her eyes on Stiles, who was listening quietly. "Where does Lydia come in? I mean, she only saw me, when we touched."

"So?"

"Maybe there's some kind of bond between the two of you? Something that made her see me through you, somehow." Ella suggested carefully, knowing she was on her way to make things awkward for her brother, and she quickly diverted her gaze, when she noticed Stiles blush.

"Why would there be a bond between me and Stiles?" Lydia questioned with a confused frown and glanced between the siblings until her eyes widened as she realized what Ella meant.

Ella knew that Lydia hadn't meant to be so careless with her words, but she couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed with the girl as she took in the crestfallen expression on Stiles' face.

Lydia had known about Stiles' crush on her for months now and had to know there were still some lingering feelings despite the developments in their friendship.

"Forget it." Ella said quickly, but didn't manage to dispel the awkward tension in the room. "Lydia heard me before that, so maybe it's something else. Maybe it has to do with Lydia being-"

Ella paused, when she realized what she was about to say and glanced apologetically at the girl next to her. They hadn't come any closer to figuring out what was happening to Lydia, but last night's events seemed to prove that she wasn't just finding dead bodies by coincidence.

"You can say it." Lydia sighed heavily before taking another scoop of ice cream into her mouth. "I'm something."

"That doesn't explain why you were there. Why would the Darach want you at the motel?"

"To freak us out?"

"But you were helping, or trying to. If the Darach wanted Scott dead, then why send you to stop it?"

"So if the Darach didn't do this, then who did?"

"Assuming there is a third party involved." Lydia commented with her eyebrows raised at Stiles and it took Ella a few seconds longer than her brother to realize what the redhead was hinting at.

"You think Ella did it? That she could be…" Stiles trailed off and rested his eyes on his sister, who was blindly reaching for the bowl in Lydia's hands with a wide-eyed expression.

"Something."

* * *

The next day at school passed by uneventfully with both Jennifer and the pack back. Although that also meant the return of the alpha twins and, now that they knew Derek was alive, Ella received meaningful stares every time she passed them in the halls. Ennis, one of theirs, had died and they were blaming Derek.

There was also the fact that her level of anxiety had risen to new, dangerous heights. Not only was the whole Derek/alpha pack situation balancing on a knife's edge and she constantly feared for Ophelia's safety, but there was also the fact that she might be "something".

She hadn't truly realized how frustrated Lydia had to feel all the time, not knowing what was happening to her, before Ella had somehow left her own body and, as a ghost, gone to find her brother hundreds of miles away.

She felt like she was going crazy just thinking about it and had spent the whole day completely distracted. In the lunch break Stiles and Scott – her brother having told his best friend what had happened – had caught her before she managed to hide in the teachers' lounge and taken her to Deaton despite her protests.

Despite how much her brain was obsessing over it, Ella was content living in ignorant bliss for just one more day before someone turned her world on its head once again by telling her what was happening to her.

When Deaton couldn't explain how or why her non-dream had happened, she didn't know whether to feel more relieved or frustrated. Relieved because maybe it wasn't actually her there was something wrong with; frustrated because there still was a very real chance it was her there was something wrong with, but she didn't know what.

It was after nine and Ella was in her room reading, and trying to distract herself from her own thoughts, when Stiles swung open the door and practically dragged her out of the room.

As they ran downstairs he told her in a few short sentences about Scott calling from the hospital to tell that another victim had been taken for the sacrifice. And a second person was missing.

The sheriff had apparently gotten the same call as he quickly walked through the house from the kitchen and followed his kids out of the front door. He didn't bother arguing, when they hopped into the backseat of his car to go with him.

Luckily, Ella hadn't changed out of her work clothes when she got home, but the sleeveless button-up she was wearing was too cold for the evening weather and she hugged herself to keep some of her warmth.

She looked up in surprise, when something black landed in her lap and she lifted the fabric to find that Stiles had grabbed her leather jacket on their way out.

"Thanks." she told her brother with a smile, which he returned before looking down at his phone to finish the text he was writing.

"I'm guessing Scott called you, huh?" their father asked with a glance at Stiles through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah. He's at the hospital."

"You know, I can't just take my kids with me to a crime scene. And you both have your own cars."

"But this way we're saving gas. Good for the environment and all that." Stiles pointed out and their father only shook his head in reply. He knew it was futile to try arguing with his son. "Just drop us off at the corner."

Ten minutes later Ella and Stiles stepped out of the car and they started jogging towards the main entrance of the hospital as the sheriff drove off. Their father was making his way over to two of his deputies, who were already on the scene, when Stiles and Ella reached Scott.

"Hey." Scott greeted them with a concerned look in his eyes and Ella followed his gaze towards the empty car, which belonged to the missing doctor.

"You're okay?" she asked Scott, who nodded in return and turned his head to look at Stiles and Ella.

"I was delivering some food for my mom since she had to work an extra shift." Scott started telling even though both Stiles and Ella already knew most of it from what he had told over the phone.

"Aw. Son of the year." Ella said with a teasing smile and managed to make the teen wolf blush a little.

"Hey!" Stiles exclaimed from beside her, but Ella just rolled her eyes.

"Please, you don't even qualify."

Stiles opened his mouth to argue, but then seemed to remember his current track record for the year and thought better of it. Alone getting his father fired disqualified him.

"Suddenly Ethan was there with Danny, who couldn't breathe. He'd been poisoned with mistletoe." Scott interrupted the siblings' banter and they immediately became serious again.

"Do we know why?" Stiles questioned with his arms crossed in front of him and an expression that told Ella he was already trying to figure it out. Ella, on the other hand, frowned at the thought of Danny being with Ethan.

"No, but he almost died. My mom managed to save him." Scott replied and there was an unmistakable tone of pride in his voice, which made Ella smile. "Then when I was leaving Ethan followed me. We were talking, when a car started swerving through the parking lot, but when we opened the door there was no one in there."

"And it couldn't just be some stupid prank?" Ella asked hopefully, even though she knew the chance was next to none.

"No. My mom told me there was already a doctor missing, so they had to get the on-call doctor. That's her car."

"So healers. Two healers have been taken." Stiles concluded as he calmed a hand through his hair and shared a dejected look with Scott and his sister. That meant two down, one to go.

The trio didn't get a chance to continue their conversation as both Melissa and the sheriff were making their way over to them from each their direction; the hospital and the empty car.

Scott quickly told the sheriff what had happened, but was stopped when he mentioned that not one, but two doctors were missing.

"Hang on there." her father interrupted with a lifted hand as he stopped writing down Scott's statement. "They were both in the car?"

"No, dad. He's trying to tell you that it was two separate kidnappings, okay?" Stiles explained with a slightly exasperated look on his face as their father didn't understand what was going on. "Two doctors, both gone."

"So whose car is this?"

"Doctor Hilliard. The on-call doctor. The ER attending is the one that never made it in." Melissa answered instead of Stiles, who was anxiously rubbing his fingers together.

Ella could feel his impatience radiating off of him and placed her hand on his right arm in an attempt to calm him down. He briefly glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before he let his left arm fall to rest on top of the one crossed in front of him.

"Let me just focus on getting your story first, alright?" their father requested with a look at Melissa, who quickly agreed. He then turned to Scott and his children. "Give us a second."

The three stepped away as the sheriff started taking Melissa's statement and they all glanced at their surroundings as they wondered what to do next.

"So the next pattern is healers. But what about Danny? He threw up mistletoe. That's not a coincidence. And if he hadn't been with Ethan he probably would've died. And Danny's not a healer." Scott spoke and brought Ella out of her dark thoughts about a paled, scarred woman.

"Can you hear that?" Stiles asked instead of answering Scott, and Ella turned her head to see their father in the middle of a phone call. Scott turned his head as well and listened for a moment before looking back at them.

"They found a body."

"Shit."

"I think that's putting it mildly."

* * *

"Good morning." Ella greeted the class as cheerfully as she could manage as she walked into the physics room. She sent a brief smile to Scott and Stiles, who were sat together in the front of the class.

"As you know, Mr. Harris is still mis-, uh, sick, so I will be substituting until they find a more qualified teacher to take my place. Which is soon, hopefully." she told the class and tried not to wince at her slip of words. "Anyway, let's get started."

Ella sent the class a smile before she walked behind the desk to write on the green chalkboard. She looked down at the note in her hand, which told her what the day's lesson was about, and picked up a piece of chalk to write on the board.

She had read through the chapter of the day a few times after the principal had offered her the class and luckily she had understood most of it.

Physics wasn't her best subject, but after a lot of studying she had managed to pull a B average in the subject in her senior year. So teaching a class of juniors wouldn't be too hard. She hoped. And substituting instead of only assisting would mean she finally got paid.

Ella glanced over shoulder and paused with the chalk still touching the board, when she heard a phone vibrate loudly. She saw Scott answer his phone out of the corner of her eye and duck under the table to not be heard.

She could hear his mumbling as she resumed her writing and finished with a line under the word 'Electromagnetic waves – chapter 4'. When she turned to face the class her eyes fell on Scott, who had finished his call and was whispering something to Stiles with a panicked look in his eyes.

Ella watched with a concerned frown as he abruptly got up from his seat and grabbed his bag. The whole class was watching curiously as he stopped in front of Ella and she almost reached out to touch his hand as she saw the fear in his dark eyes.

"Deaton's been taking. I need to find him." Scott informed her in a low voice, so none of his classmates could hear and Ella felt her heart drop to her stomach.

"Of course." she quickly told him with a frantic nod and pushed at his arm, when he for a second remained unmoving. "Go. Go, go, go!"

Without another word Scott sprinted out of the class and Ella's eyes lingered on the closed door for a long moment before she turned her attention back to the class. They were all staring at her, but Ella looked to her brother, who was busy typing something on his phone. He was probably alerting their father.

"Right, so can anyone tell me what an electromagnetic wave is?" she asked the class, while trying her hardest to keep her voice even. Taking a deep breath, Ella clenched her shaking hands into fists and smiled at the students.

"Yes, Ian?" she picked a redheaded boy she remembered from English.

As the boy started talking all she could hear was the blood pumping in her ears. The Darach had taken Deaton and Scott had to find him before it was too late. If anyone could do it, it was Scott. The trouble was he would have no idea where to look.

* * *

"Alright." the Sheriff said as he slapped his hand down on Scott's shoulder, making the boy jump. Scott had run to the animal clinic as soon as he got the call from Deaton, but had found no leads as to where he might be. "We're gonna do everything we can, but right now the best thing you can do is go back to school."

Scott nodded dejectedly and the sheriff sent his son a meaningful look, telling him to do the same. Both boys knew that wasn't going to happen. Stiles thought briefly of his sister, who had barely managed to get through the physics class without panicking, and took his phone from his pocket to update her on what was happening.

When he finished his text he looked back at Scott, who gestured with his eyes and head towards the Cat Clinic, and Stiles followed him into the empty room. No new cats had come in after the mass suicide two weeks earlier.

"We have to tell him." Scott spoke urgently as soon as he had closed the door behind him and Stiles felt how his pulse immediately started racing.

"You mean like tell him, tell him? Or tell him something else that isn't telling him what I think you wanna tell him." Stiles said as he clutched one of the empty cat cages in an attempt to remain calm.

"You know what I mean."

"Remember how your mom reacted? She didn't look you in the eye for like a week."

"She got over it." Scott whispered, when Stiles' voice rose in volume and he could see how his friend was already starting to panic as he looked towards the door through which he could see his father.

"And it actually made us closer." Scott tried to argue, but it didn't seem to convince Stiles. "Stiles, just think of Ella. She knows and she's fine."

"Ella is not fine. She's constantly worrying, barely sleeping and when she does she has nightmares, Scott. And we still don't know what really happened at the motel." Stiles snapped at his best friend and diverted his eyes to the floor, when Scott flinched at his tone.

"Why haven't you told me?"

"Because she hasn't told me either. And what if the same happens to my dad? I mean, look at him." Stiles said with his eyes trained on his father, who tiredly rubbed a hand over his face. "He's completely overwhelmed as it is."

"He's overwhelmed because he has no clue what's happening. He's got people dying in his town, the town that he's supposed to protect and it's not his fault that he doesn't know what's happening. He's gonna find out sooner or later."

"Okay, but is now really the right time?" Stiles protested, hoping to somehow delay the inevitable.

He knew Scott was right, just like Ophelia had been with Ella, but he couldn't get himself to do it. His sister finally knowing had been a relief for a few days, but then the human sacrifices had started happening and the alpha pack had made their entrance and everything was blowing up in Stiles' face once again.

Ella would never tell him about her nightmares and sleepless nights, because, even after four years away in college, she still felt like she needed to take care of him and their father.

But he had heard her. He had heard her cry out in her sleep; seen her kick off her sheets as she tried to get away from whatever was chasing her, when he checked on her after hearing her voice through the wall; heard her wake up at four AM and move around in her room until her alarm rang.

It wasn't every night, but enough for Stiles to notice that something wasn't right. And now she had, in her sleep, somehow managed to be two places at once without any of them knowing how. She hadn't told him, but he could see it on her face that she was afraid it would happen again.

Whatever was happening with his sister, he couldn't do that to his father as well.

"What if not telling him now gets someone else killed later?"

"What if telling him gets him killed, huh?" Stiles questioned, his voice desperate as he stared at Scott, who couldn't meet his gaze.

"I mean, I get that Deaton's been like a father to you. I get that." he continued with a trembling voice, which slowly rose in volume as he tried to make Scott understand. "Okay, but this is my, Scott, this is my _actual_ father. I can't… Ella and I can't lose both our parents, alright. Not both of them."

"You're right." Scott finally conceded as his eyes briefly met Stiles, who deflated with a deep sigh.

For once he wasn't right. His father needed to know before more people got killed. Or maybe even him if he suddenly found himself in the same situation as Ella had with Boyd and Cora. Not knowing could as easily get him killed as knowing.

"No, I'm not. I'm not right." Stiles said with a glance towards the door and his mind was already trying to come up with a way to tell his father. He would need to call Ella as well. "I'll tell him."

"I'll help you." Scott promised without taking his eyes of his best friend and then walked towards the door, leaving Stiles to follow him after a long exhale.

The plan of telling the sheriff what was really going on completely left their minds as they exited the Cat Clinic to find Ms. Morell telling the sheriff that she would offer whatever they needed to find her brother.

Stiles looked at Scott, who was equally as confused as himself, and mouthed the word 'brother'. If Deaton hadn't been the newest victim of the Darach, this new piece of information would have made the veterinarian very suspicious in Stiles' eyes.

"Will you excuse us for a minute? Thank you." the sheriff told the guidance counselor and had barely left the room before she was making her way over to the boys.

"Listen closely, both of you. No sheriff, deputy or detective is going to be able to find him." she told them without showing any form of inner turmoil or worry about her brother's disappearance.

"You don't have to ask us for help." Scott told her and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she eyed the werewolf.

"Actually, I'm trying to help you. Because if you're going to find my brother you need to use the one person, who might actually have an ability to seek out the supernatural."

Scott stared at the woman with a frown and looked at Stiles, who seemed to immediately understand who she was talking about.

"Lydia."

* * *

"You know, if you pull that it'll get you at least a month of detention and large bill you don't want to pay." Ella warned the brunette, who was standing with her back to Ella and about to pull the fire alarm.

Ella took a step back in shock, when the girl turned around to glare at her and she saw it wasn't a student. In front of her stood Cora Hale, who had tried to kill her just a couple of weeks ago.

"I'm not a student here, so good luck with that." Cora told her harshly and eyed the small woman in front of her with disinterest.

"What are you doing here, Cora?"

"How do you know who I am?" the she wolf questioned threateningly and took a step forward in an attempt to intimidate Ella.

"Well, you tried to eat me not that long ago. Here at the school, remember?" Ella replied calmly and didn't flinch away even though she felt her pulse elevate.

She didn't think that Cora would actually try to hurt her again, but she hadn't forgotten the last time the girl had looked at her with such animosity and a feral glow in her eyes.

"Ella Stilinski." she introduced herself, when Cora didn't show any signs of recognition and tryingly offered her hand in greeting. Cora barely glanced at it, so Ella let it drop to her side.

"Stiles' sister."

"Yes, and a teacher here. So if I'm gonna let you pull the alarm and call the whole fire department here, you better give me a good reason why." Ella told the girl sternly with her arms crossed in front of her.

She had quickly learned that some situations meant breaking the rules, like the prank they had pulled on Aiden, but as of now she didn't know of any supernatural crisis that required the whole school to be evacuated.

"Derek sent me here."

"To do what exactly?"

"Tell Lydia to stay away from Aiden." Cora said and raised an eyebrow at the surprised look on Ella's face. "You didn't know she was screwing him?"

"You're wrong. Lydia knows who Aiden is, so why would she be with him?" Ella argued, because Lydia and Aiden together didn't make sense to her. Lydia was too smart to knowingly get herself involved with someone from the alpha pack.

"How the hell should I know?"

"You're sure about this?"

"I saw them sneak into that room just five minutes ago." Cora replied as she turned around to point at the closed door that read 'Coach's Office'.

Ella stared at the door for a long moment before looking back at Cora, who was watching her expectantly. She let out a frustrated sigh before she moved past the girl and strode over to the door. Ella paused for a moment with her hand on the doorknob before she pushed it open.

"For fuck's sake, Lydia!" she couldn't help but exclaim, when the sight of Lydia kissing the neck of a bare-chested Aiden met her. The redhead was standing between the alpha's legs as he sat on Finstock's desk.

The couple quickly jumped apart at the interruption and a deep blush colored Lydia's cheeks as Aiden pulled on his shirt. Ella didn't notice him glaring at her as she kept her eyes on Lydia, who was busy straightening her clothes.

"You, out, now!" she barked at Aiden, who glanced at Lydia one last time before he left the room.

The realization that Ella had just yelled at an alpha werewolf easily capable of killing her didn't catch up to her until after he had left the room.

"What?" Lydia asked innocently as she pulled her bag unto her shoulder and moved to follow Aiden out of the room.

"Look, I don't care who you fool around with, but Aiden out of all people? You have an IQ of one-seventy and you chose the guy, who would kill anyone of us without blinking if he was told to do so?" Ella questioned disbelievingly and Lydia paused in front of her; a strange look in her eyes as if she hadn't really thought about that.

"You have a shitty taste in guys." Cora spoke from behind Ella and blocked Lydia from leaving the room. Ella didn't like the sudden turn the situation had taken, when Cora stepped past her with her eyes trained on Lydia.

"What do you want?" Lydia scoffed and gave Cora an unimpressed once over before she tried to step around her, only for Cora to follow. "Is there a problem?"

"Yeah. Derek would kindly ask you to stop seeing Aiden. Which means that if I catch you with him again I'm not gonna warn you a second time, I'm gonna pull your tongue out of your head." Cora told with a smirk on her lips and didn't seem fazed by Lydia's bitchy attitude.

The situation had escalated way too quickly for Ella's liking and her hand slowly moved into her bag to find the small glass bottle of wolf's bane she had started carrying with her everywhere. It probably wouldn't do much against Cora, but it would distract her enough to give Ella and Lydia a chance to run.

"Sweetheart." Lydia sighed overbearingly and ignored the warning look Ella was sending her to keep her quiet. "My last boyfriend was a homicidal lizard, so I think I can handle a werewolf."

Once again Lydia tried to move around Cora, but was stopped when the brunette suddenly grabbed her arm. Ella froze for a moment and clutched the bottle of wolf's bane in her hand harder.

"Let go." Lydia demanded with a low hiss of pain, but Cora easily held unto the struggling redhead and Ella took a quick step forward to help Lydia. "I said-"

"Let go." Stiles' voice interrupted loudly from behind Ella and she turned her head to find her brother staring angrily at Cora. He had found his way to the office through the locker room. "She said let go."

"Remove your hand or I won't have any problems using this." Ella sneered at the girl, when she didn't listen and pulled the bottle of wolf's bane from her bag to shove it in Cora's face.

"Fine." Cora growled and flinched away from the wolf's bane as she let go of Lydia's wrist.

"You okay?" Stiles asked as he quickly made his way over to Lydia and gently brushed his fingers over the red imprints Cora's fingers had left on her pale skin.

Lydia's eyes lingered on Stiles' face for a moment before she nodded and then glared at Cora. Ella glanced warily at the three teenagers as she held the wolf's bane ready in her hand, but Cora didn't seem eager to attack any of them.

"Deaton?" she asked Stiles, when she found it safe to take her eyes off Cora, but knew just by the look on his face that he didn't have any good news.

"No." he told her with a shake of his head and turned his eyes on Lydia. "Which is why we need Lydia."

"Me? Why do you need me?" the girl asked in confusion and frowned at Stiles. "And what's wrong with Deaton?"

"Who's Deaton?" Cora questioned as she took a step forward to stand beside Ella, who shifted slightly away from her. The werewolf rolled her eyes at Ella, but moved over to lean on the coach's desk to give her some space.

"The local veterinarian." Ella answered and noticed a flash of recognition cross Cora's face. She thought maybe now the girl would lose interest and leave, but Cora stayed where she was.

"Where is he?" Lydia asked worriedly and didn't take her eyes of Stiles as he started pulling her along with him and out of the room.

"He's been taken. He's the third sacrifice." he informed her as they walked through the locker room with Ella and Cora following them.

Ella wasn't sure why Cora was still there. She had come to talk to Lydia, not help with Deaton. And none of them really knew her or had talked to her before, so she had to feel awkward in their company, but it didn't seem to bother her the slightest.

"The healers?" Lydia questioned with a wavering voice.

The look on her face made Ella think that no one had even told her about the two other victims. She made a mental note to text Lydia in the future, when something like this happened.

Stiles answered with nod and the four of them walked through the halls until they reached the physics room, which was empty. Lydia placed herself in a chair by one of the desks and glared at Cora, who sat down beside her as if she hadn't just threatened the other girl.

"Just wait here, I'll be right back." Stiles told the girls before he ran out of the room, leaving them to sit in awkward silence.

"Where's Allison?" Ella asked Lydia, when the tension in the room became too much for her and the girl looked up from studying her nails.

"Home. Her dad grounded her after the whole Derek dying incident."

"Oh."

Ella had hoped she had somehow gotten through to Chris and that he wouldn't punish his daughter for trying to help her friends, but apparently that wasn't the case.

They didn't get to say more as Stiles returned with what looked like a board game in his hand. It was then Ella noticed the troubled look on his face and she knew it was something more than him worrying about Deaton. He had only just placed the box on the desk in front of Lydia, when she grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

"Stiles, are you okay?" she asked her brother and studied him with concern. He frowned as he tried to figure what she meant and looked to the floor the second their eyes met.

"Sure."

"Tell me." Ella pressed, knowing that he was lying and she grabbed his hand, when she noticed it was shaking; a sign that his anxiety was getting to him.

"I almost told dad." Stiles finally revealed and looked up to find his sister stare at him in shock. "You should have seen him at the clinic, Els. He had no idea what to do or what was going on, and the FBI is breathing down his neck and he's just exhausted."

"Hey, hey, it's okay." Ella muttered softly, when Stiles' voice began trembling and tears sprung to his eyes. She quickly pulled him into a hug and felt him bury his face in the crook of her neck as his fingers curled into the cardigan she was wearing.

"We'll tell him together, soon, okay? I promise." she reassured her little brother and stepped back to smile at him. "Until then we'll just have to do everything we can to help him."

"Are you two done over there?" Cora then called after them, breaking the moment between the siblings and Ella let out a long sigh, so she wouldn't snap at the girl.

"Will you shut up?" Ella heard Lydia hiss at the werewolf and a smile appeared on Stiles' face as he shared a look with the redhead.

"Right, so what do we do now?" Ella asked Stiles as they walked over to the desk and she recognized the box he had brought with him as an Ouija board. "An Ouija board?"

"Also called a spirit board. It's worth a shot." Stiles told as he quickly unpacked the board and placed it on the desk between the four of them.

He seemed to have pushed some of his worries about their father to the background and was back to being his normal hyperactive self.

"A shot in the dark." Lydia said with an unconvinced expression on her face and Ella knew immediately that this wouldn't get them anywhere. If Lydia was going to be any help she also had to believe that she could be.

"Would you just try it, please? Okay. Let's not forget who this is for. Scott's boss, the guy who's saved our collected asses on more than one occasion." Stiles reminded them and Ella could hear him getting worked up.

"So do we all do this?" Cora asked as she pointed at the white, arrow-shaped piece of plastic that lay in the middle of the board.

"Yeah… yeah." Stiles said hesitantly with an uncertain glance at the board before looking at his sister, who just shrugged. She had never tried using an Ouija board before and had little idea how it worked.

"You guys ready?" he asked them after they had all placed their fingers on the white arrow and the girls all responded with a "yes"; some more willingly than others. Stiles took a deep breath before he asked his question: "Where is Doctor Deaton?"

There was a long moment of tense silence where nothing happened and Stiles, Cora and Ella all glanced at Lydia, who was just staring at the board with a pout on her lips.

"What?" the girl asked when she felt their eyes on her and Ella held back a sigh. Lydia wasn't even trying.

"Are you gonna answer it?" Stiles hinted with a gesture of his head towards the board and Lydia sent him a confused look.

"Oh, I don't know the answer. I thought we were asking some sort of spirit."

"Well, do you know any spirits?" Cora questioned in a voice that told Ella she was being serious. She tried her best to keep a smile on her face, while Stiles just glanced at them with an exasperated look on his face.

"Is she for real?" Lydia asked with a look directed at Ella as she pointed at Cora, who pulled back from the board with a scowl on her face.

"Let's try something else." Ella suggested when it became clear the Ouija board wouldn't work.

"Right." Stiles agreed and fished a bundle of keys out of his pocket. "Okay, this is Deaton's key for the clinic. Close your eyes and I'm gonna put them in your hand and we're just gonna try and see if you can feel out for his location. It's called psychometry."

"I'm not a psychic."

"You're something, okay!" Stiles exclaimed frustratingly and Ella found herself sharing a tired look with Cora as they listened to the other two argue. "Just, Lydia, put out your hand and…"

Stiles' voice trailed off as Lydia finally closed her eyes and held out her hand, so he could give her the keys. Lydia let out a small sound of surprise as the keys connected with her palm and she wrapped her fingers around them.

"What?"

"They're cold."

Stiles looked as if he was about to yell at her again and Ella pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried not to do the same. They were getting nowhere fast.

"Lydia, concentrate, please. We're trying to save lives here. For the love of God." her brother spoke through his teeth as he struggled to keep himself from yelling.

A concentrating frown appeared between Lydia's brows as she closed her hand around the keys and closed her eyes. For a moment it actually looked like it would work and Ella held her breath as she waited for Lydia to speak.

"What is it? What do you see?" Stiles asked quietly, when her frowned deepened and Lydia opened her eyes, only to shake her head.

"Nothing."

"Got any other tricks?" Cora asked curiously as they all tried to get over their disappointment and Ella could see the wheels turning inside Stiles' head.

"Maybe." he muttered as he suddenly dug into Ella's bag and withdrew a pencil and note book from it. "I've read about this thing called automatic writing. You just start writing and then your subconscious tells you what to write."

"Automatic writing?" Lydia questioned as the paper and pencil was placed in front of her and it was obvious she didn't think this would work either.

Stiles nodded encouragingly and Lydia let out a sigh as she placed the pen against the paper and started drawing.

Ella leaned over the table to get a good look and frowned, when she saw that Lydia had started drawing a tree. Something about seemed familiar and she realized it looked very much like another tree she had once caught Lydia drawing in class. If she hadn't known better she would say it was exactly the same.

"Lydia, what are you doing? What the hell is that?" Stiles asked, interrupting Ella's train of thought, but Lydia didn't seem fazed by his growing annoyance.

"A tree."

"A tree?" Stiles gaped, barely able to get the words out, and Cora closed her eyes as a sign that she was about done with the whole situation. "Lydia, you're supposed to be writing words! Like sentences, something like a location, something that will tell us where he is!"

"Well, maybe you should have said that."

"Isn't she supposed to be some kind of genius?" Cora questioned angrily with her arms crossed in front of her and looked ready to slap Lydia.

"A genius, yes. Psychic, no." Lydia replied calmly and Ella stared disbelievingly as she just went back to her drawing. "Honestly, I don't even know why you're bothering with me anyway. Especially since it's obvious you should be talking to Danny."

Stiles, who had finally given up and hid his face in his hand, suddenly straightened and shared a wide-eyed look with his sister before they both turned their eyes on Lydia.

"Why Danny?" Ella questioned urgently and Lydia looked up in surprise as she realized what she had said.

"Because last night he was a target." Scott spoke as he walked into the room and Ella quickly made her way towards him, when she noticed the blood seeping through his fingers from a wound on his shoulder. "But he wasn't a sacrifice."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

Ella and Stiles asked at the same time and Scott let his hand drop from his shoulder, so Ella could look at the cut Deucalion had given him, while he started explaining.

"Deucalion was here. He said that if we wanted to find Deaton we had to follow the currents."

"Deucalion?" Ella questioned with a frown as she examined the cut on Scott's shoulder, which was already healing. All that was left from it was the blood on his fingers and skin. "Why is he helping us?"

"I'm not sure."

"What does currents have to do with Danny?" Stiles asked as he walked over to his friend and sister, trying not to look at the blood smeared on Scott's right hand. He was already feeling lightheaded from everything else going on and the blood didn't help.

"He was writing a paper on telluric currents." Lydia answered for Scott as she abandoned her drawing and moved towards them with Cora on her heels.

"Telluric currents?"

"They are electric currents that run underneath the surface of the Earth's crust." Lydia explained as Stiles ran past her and started packing up the mess they had made. He grabbed Ella's bag from the desk and gave it to her as the five of them left the room.

"So we need to talk to Danny."

"Isn't he still at the hospital?" Cora asked Scott, who was suddenly busy checking his phone and Ella was surprised Cora even knew about what had happened to Danny.

"Yeah, that's where we're going right now." Stiles told her as the bell rang, signaling the school day was over and that they were running out of time.

"I'll meet you there." Scott said as he walked ahead of them with his phone still in his hand. When Stiles asked why, he showed them the text Allison had just sent; telling him she had found something. Even stuck at home, she was still helping.

The group split up in the parking lot with Scott driving off on his dirt bike and the rest of them running towards Ella's car. Stiles' jeep was getting repaired for the hundredth time, so he had driven with her to school.

Ella reversed out of her parking space and drove a little too fast past the rows of parked cars that were slowly filling as students got ready to leave the school. She could feel herself panicking as she glanced at the digital clock on her dashboard and willed herself to keep calm unless she wanted to get into an accident.

"Why would Deucalion help us find Deaton?" Stiles wondered from the backseat as they drove towards the hospital. Cora was sitting beside him, while Lydia was in the front seat; the two girls having split up without having said a word about it.

"It could be a distraction." Cora suggested as she typed something on her phone and Stiles looked at her in surprise.

"From what?"

"Kali is coming after Derek to kill him."

"What?! Why didn't you tell us?"

"I am now." Cora shrugged and went back to her phone as Stiles stared at her. Ella had a bad feeling about the whole that she couldn't shake, but didn't say anything. "Isaac and Boyd are with him. They have a plan."

"A plan?"

"They flooded the loft and laid down some cables. They're gonna fry the bitch." Cora told with a smirk.

"And then what?"

"Kill her, hopefully."

The car went silent after that and Ella tried not to think too hard about all the things that could go wrong with both Derek's plan and their mission to find Deaton. She glanced at Lydia a couple of times as she sped through the town and noticed the far-away look on the girl's face.

Stiles jumped out of the car as soon as Ella parked by the main entrance to the hospital and left the girls with a promise to be back in a few minutes. She didn't know what he was going to do to get the necessary information out of Danny, but hoped he had a plan that wouldn't get him into too much trouble.

"Lydia, are you okay?" Ella asked carefully after having sat for a couple of minutes in nervous silence and looked at the girl, who kept staring out of the window.

Something was definitely bothering her and Ella didn't think it was just Deaton's kidnapping.

"I don't know why I said it." Lydia spoke quietly after a few long seconds and her hands clenched into fists as her eyes met Ella's. "I don't know how I knew about Danny."

Lydia was scared, Ella realized. Scared of herself and what she could possibly do.

Not even Ella's all too real dreams was anything compared to what Lydia had been going through ever since she had been bitten; hallucinating, bringing Peter back to life, memory loss, finding dead bodies without knowing how, hearing the voices of people committing suicide. It was a wonder Lydia managed to stay sane.

"You know, it's okay to just let it all out sometimes. Cry, scream, punch something. Or just get really drunk and do all of it. Which I'm telling you as a friend, by the way, and not as your teacher or a responsible adult."

Lydia smiled at the older girl, who halfway through her speech had realized she was encouraging a minor to drink and then awkwardly tried to backtrack. Ella made a grimace at her own rambling before her lips curved into a smile.

"Or you can talk to me. Or Allison or Scott or Stiles. We're all here to listen if you need it." she told Lydia with a serious look in her eyes, making sure the girl knew she meant it, and Lydia nodded; her lips pressed together as if she was trying not to say anything.

"The thing with Aiden," Lydia started slowly, when Ella kept staring at her; waiting for her to speak.

"I'm not gonna tell you, who can or cannot sleep with, Lydia. And I'm not gonna judge you either." Ella interrupted, when it was obvious how little Lydia wanted to talk about what Ella had seen in Finstock's office.

Honestly, Ella didn't want to talk about it either, but she was worried that Lydia wasn't thinking properly about the consequences of what she was doing.

Aiden was dangerous and Ethan had already revealed to Scott that Lydia wasn't just a random booty call. She was a ransom, something to hold over Scott's head. And Ella had no idea how to tell her that.

"You're sure about that?" Lydia scoffed from beside her as she definitely hadn't forgotten Ella's strong reaction to seeing her with Aiden. It seemed to her that Ella was very much judging her.

"Look, I'm sorry that I got so angry. I just don't want to see you hurt, physically or emotionally."

"It's nothing more than sex. I'm not looking for a relationship, anyway. He's hot and that's it."

"Just be careful, okay?"

"Are you telling me to use protection?" Lydia questioned teasingly with a smirk and Ella became flustered over the insinuation.

"No! I mean, yes, definitely do that. But that's not-"

"Stiles is back." Cora called from the backseat and Ella had to pretend she hadn't totally forgotten about the other girl's presence in the car. She was surprised Cora had actually kept quiet for so long.

"I know what you mean, Ella. And I'll be careful, I promise." Lydia reassured her earnestly and Ella gave a nod as Stiles stepped inside the car.

"Thank you."

"Did Danny tell you anything?" Cora questioned eagerly and the three girls all turned in their seats to look at Stiles and the stack of papers he was now carrying.

"I took his assignment. He was definitely on to something."

"Okay, so what now?" Ella asked as she watched her brother over her shoulder and he briefly glanced at her before going back to reading Danny's paper.

"We're meeting Scott at the clinic." Stiles told quickly and Ella turned the ignition, bringing her car to life.

"He just called. Apparently, Allison's dad's been tracking the sacrifices; where they were taken from and where the bodies were found. He's marked it on a map, but there are twice as many markings as there have been sacrifices so far."

"So he knows where the next body will be found and taken from?" Ella questioned disbelievingly and had to make a sharp turn, when she suddenly remembered she had to go right. Her passengers were thrown to the left, only to be stopped by their seatbelts, and she heard Cora curse in Spanish.

"Bodies, as in he's marked six different places. And Deaton could be in one of them."

"But how does he know?"

"Maybe he's following the currents as well." Lydia suggested with a glance at Stiles, who looked up from the paper in surprise as he finally noticed Lydia hadn't really spoken since they left the school. "I mean, the Argents lived in Mystic Falls for years before moving away. If the telluric currents somehow affect the supernatural they must know about it."

"What if he's the killer?" Cora asked unabashedly, making Stiles and Lydia stare at her in surprise, while Ella was forced to keep her eyes on the road. "What if he isn't tracking the sacrifices, but planning where he's going to sacrifice the next victim?"

"Why would he want to sacrifice people?" Ella questioned with a frown and briefly glanced at Cora through the rearview mirror as she stopped for a red light. She couldn't help but think about how Stiles had placed Cora on his list of suspects just a few days ago.

"Why not?"

"It's not Allison's dad, okay?" Lydia replied sternly and glared at the other girl, who just lifted a challenging eyebrow. Cora probably didn't have any other reason for blaming him beside the fact that he was a hunter, or former hunter.

The last five minutes of the drive was spent in silence as Stiles was busy reading through Danny's paper, while Lydia stared thoughtfully out of the window and Cora was looking at something on her phone.

Scott's bike was already parked in front of the clinic, when they exited Ella's car and ran inside. He had gone in through the back door, so he could make it past the wolf's bane and was busy printing something.

They all paused over the steel examination table in the backroom and Scott laid down his printouts as Stiles started explaining what he had learned from Danny's paper.

"So the paper is a project on geomagnetic fields, or telluric currents as Lydia said. They flow through the Earth, they can even be affected by lunar fazes." Stiles told them with a look at Scott at mention of lunar fazes, but then quickly continued. "Right, look at this. This is a note from Harris on Danny's proposal."

"I strongly advise you to choose another subject. The ideas here, while innovative and thoughtful, border on pseudoscience. Not suitable for class." Lydia read aloud from the page Stiles showed them, where Harris had written in red ink.

"Harris wasn't just a sacrifice, he knew something." Scott said and his lips parted in surprise as he stared at his best friend.

"Just like he did with the Darach." Ella added and Stiles nodded in agreement before he found something hidden in Danny's paper and pulled it out.

"And check this out. Allison's dad wasn't the only one with a map, right. Danny had one too." Stiles told as he unfolded the map and spread on the table between them. Scott placed his printouts, pictures he had taken of Argent's map, on top of it.

"Danny marked all the telluric currents. Okay, now the weird thing about Beacon Hills is that it actually is a beacon. You wouldn't believe how much energy flowing through the Earth is around this town."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Stiles remembered someone else once telling them that Beacon Hills was a beacon for everything supernatural. He glanced at his sister, who was staring down at the maps with a concentrated expression as she tried to comprehend everything he was telling them.

It was Ophelia, he realized suddenly. Ophelia had called Beacon Hills a literal beacon, when they first found out what she was, and she wasn't wrong. Did she know about the currents as well? Or was it all just a coincidence and the two had nothing to do with each other?

Stiles didn't have time to ask as Scott spoke up and he looked to his best friend to find a shocked expression on his face.

"Stiles, look, they match." the werewolf said as he compared the lines Argent had drawn with the ones on Danny's map; showing the pattern of the currents.

"There's three places, right?" Scott continued as he took a pen and circled the two locations related to Kyle's murder; the clinic and the running track. "Where they're kidnapped and the place where their body was found."

"Wait, that's right on the telluric current." Lydia pointed out with her finger on the map. Every new clue they found seemed to exhilarate their sense of urgency and Ella felt her heart race as she watched the others work it out.

"So maybe where he was sacrificed was somewhere in between."

"Let me see that." Stiles said and grabbed Scott's pen to draw a cross over the animal clinic, where Deaton had been taken. "You said there's six more bodies to be found. Deaton's one of them. Gotta be somewhere in between, right?"

"Stop." Cora interrupted, surprising them all, and placed her hand over Stiles' as he moved the pen over the map. They all watched as Cora moved Stiles' hand to a new location, where two of the currents met; Beacon Hills First National.

"He's in the vault. He's in the same vault." Cora spoke angrily as the memory of having been in the vault for months flashed through her eyes.

Ella noticed her brother wince slightly, when Cora's hand tightened around his, and she carefully grabbed Cora's wrist to make her let go of Stiles. The werewolf met her gaze as she released Stiles and Ella looked at him to find him flexing his hand.

After that things moved quickly as Ella, Lydia and Stiles gathered everything spread out on the table and made to leave. Scott was already halfway out the door, but Ella noticed that Cora had frozen as she looked down on her phone with a stricken expression.

"Wait a second." Ella called after the other three to stop them from leaving as she herself paused to hear what Cora had to say.

"It's Boyd. The plan didn't work. They cut the power." Cora informed them with a wide-eyed look and for the first time Ella saw fear on the girl's face.

"It's just like he said." Scott spoke after a brief moment of shocked silence and they all turned to stare at him in confusion. A flash of determination then crossed his face and he continued urgently, "Go! I can save Deaton myself."

"Wait, Scott! What about us?"

"Cora can't get there fast enough without you. Go! We can save both of them."

"Alright, let's go!" Stiles urged as Scott disappeared out of the back door, and they all ran out to Ella's car.

Ella couldn't concentrate on what the others were saying as she tried not to crash her car and everyone in it, while she drove through the town faster than she had ever done before. If she got caught she would surely lose her license; sheriff's daughter or not.

She didn't hear any complaints either, when she took a sharp turn or braked suddenly; tossing them around in their seat belts. For once even Stiles felt grateful that they had not taken the jeep as Ella's car could accelerate considerably faster without the risk of breaking down.

Cora and Stiles were jumping out of the car before Ella had even come to a full stop and she ran after them with Lydia beside her. They caught up with them just as Cora pushed open a heavy door that read 'Electric room. Only authorized personnel'.

"Okay, what do we do?" Stiles asked, when they came to a stop in front of tall relay with multiple switches. They had no idea which to pull to get the power on in Derek's loft.

"We pull them. All of them." Cora replied breathlessly and, with Lydia's help, she began to turn on the power to everything in the building.

Ella wrung her hands anxiously as she kept an eye on the main staircase, which led to Derek's loft, while Stiles sent a one word text to Isaac reading 'NOW'.

Pained cries echoed all the way down from the top of the staircase, when Lydia and Cora pulled the last switches and turned the power back on. Once again Cora and Stiles were the fastest out of the room, but Ella and Lydia were right behind them.

Ella was breathing heavily as they made it to the third floor; Lydia by her side, and Stiles and Cora several steps ahead of them. Given, they did have longer legs and more strength to climb the stairs faster.

 _I really need to start jogging again or I'll die of a heart attack before any werewolf ever gets to me._

She was surprised when they suddenly caught up to Cora and Stiles, but stopped short as well, when she turned a corner to find Kali, Ethan and Aiden in front of them. They all looked dripping wet and especially Kali, whose protruding claws were also colored red with blood.

 _And I need a gun. Jogging and a gun, first things tomorrow._

Stiles' hand wrapped around Cora's arm, when she started to growl and looked ready to attack the three alphas. Kali only smirked at the other she wolf and then jumped over the railing without a word. Ella didn't look down to see where she had landed, but hoped she had at least sprained something doing it.

Ethan glanced at all of them with an almost regretful look in his eyes before he followed Kali. Only Aiden was left standing, but his gaze was solely focused on Lydia, who wouldn't even spare him a look.

As soon as he was gone, they continued up the stairs and Ella heard water splashing as Cora and Stiles ran into the loft, while Lydia and her climbed the last steps.

At first all Ella noticed was Boyd lying on his back in the water with Cora on her knees beside him; sobbing loudly.

Derek was on his knees as well, looking down at Boyd and then his shaking hands, while Stiles placed a hand on his shoulder. It wouldn't be any comfort for Derek, but maybe just a small reassurance that they didn't think him the killer he thought himself to be.

It took her a moment, but Ella put the pieces together. While it could have been Boyd's blood under Kali's nails, it was more likely that they had somehow forced Derek to kill his beta. The way Derek kept staring at his hands confirmed Ella's theory, but for once she didn't want to be right. Not about this.

Ella was about to step into the water, when someone quietly spoke her name and she looked to her left to find Jennifer staring up at her. She froze in shock at the sight of the woman, who was sitting between Isaac's legs; curled into herself with eyes widened in confusion.

"Jennifer." Ella whispered as she knelt in front of her friend and examined her for any signs of physical trauma. She had no idea why the woman was there and was too shocked to think of a reasonable explanation herself. "What are you, I mean, are you hurt?"

Boyd's death and Ella's appearance had made the woman speechless, so she only shook her head. When Jennifer reached for her, Ella grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. Over Jennifer's shoulder she looked at Isaac, who was staring back at her with tears shinning in his blue eyes.

"It's okay, I got her." she told the boy, who then slowly rose to his feet; his hands gripping the wall behind him in case his legs wouldn't carry him.

Jennifer's body shook as Ella held her and she found herself muttering "it's okay" repeatedly as she stroked her friend's hair. It wasn't okay, though, and Ella felt like crying herself, when she turned her head to look at the scene playing out in the middle of the room.

Isaac and Cora were both leaning over Boyd's lifeless body and she could hear them both sob over the loss of their friend. Derek was still on his knees, staring desperately at his hands as if he wished they would fall off, and Stiles hadn't moved his hand from the alpha's shoulder.

Lydia was standing next to Stiles with her hands wrapped around his arm as she stared at Boyd. The room was lit by the moon light shining through the large window behind them on which a triangular, swastika-like symbol was painted in black.

Ella wasn't sure how long they all stayed like that, but when her knees began to hurt, she slowly pulled away from Jennifer to stand up. With some difficulty she managed to pull the other woman to her feet as well.

"I'm taking Jennifer home." she told her brother, her voice only loud enough for him to hear her, and he answered with a nod. Ella watched as he slowly removed his hand from Derek's shoulder and pulled his arm out of Lydia's grasp to wrap it around her shoulders. "Call me when you hear from Scott."

"What about…?" Jennifer asked weakly with a look directed at Derek, but Ella shook her head and the teacher fell silent. Ella had no idea what to tell her, no idea herself what would happen now, so instead she led Jennifer out of the room silently.

Ella wasn't sure whether she was holding onto Jennifer for her own sake or to make sure the woman kept walking, but focusing on helping Jennifer was slowly clearing Ella's mind and she was able to stop herself from crying by blinking a few times.

Both women descended the stairs in silence as neither of them could think of anything to say and they got into Ella's car without a word as well. They sat in the car, staring out of the windshield and into the dark, for almost a minute, before Ella finally decided to speak up.

"I know you've told me before, but where do you live?"

"At Hill Street, not that far from the school."

"Right, of course. I know where that is." Ella replied with an apologetic smile, which fell as soon as she started the car. She drove away from the building much slower than how she had arrived and didn't once break the speed limit on her way to Jennifer's apartment.

"You know about…" Jennifer spoke after a couple of minutes of silence and Ella glanced to her right to find the other woman staring at her curiously.

"Werewolves, yeah. And all those other things that go bump in the night."

"Other things?"

"It's a long story." Ella sighed with a shake of her head, hoping that Jennifer would drop the subject. She didn't want to spend the next hour trying to explain what a kanima was.

"How did you find out?" Jennifer asked after a brief silence as she sensed Ella's mood and the younger woman tiredly calmed her fingers through her dark brown hair.

"The same day you did, actually. I was almost attacked by the two that were locked in the boiler room with you. Derek and Scott stopped them, though." Ella explained lightly and tried without success to push Boyd to the back of her mind.

"Scott McCall? He's a werewolf too?"

"It's because of him my brother is involved in all of this as well, even though he's human. Not that I blame him or anything. He was bitten by Derek's uncle and then it kinda just escalated from there."

"I only knew about Derek." Jennifer told with a strange look in her eyes that Ella couldn't decipher.

For some reason she felt like Jennifer wasn't telling the truth. Although, maybe she was just trying to downplay her own knowledge, thinking it would make her threat somehow. Or a target.

"You and Derek?" Ella asked leadingly, when she couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer, and while she knew this was a bad time to be talking about boys, she also needed to know why Jennifer had been a part of the fight between Derek and Kali.

"It's complicated, I think." Jennifer told sheepishly and Ella only noticed the blush on her cheeks when they drove past a street lamp.

The sun had set over an hour ago and Ella glanced up at the bright moon, which had an intimidating presence on the evening sky.

"You think?" she questioned with a confused frown and looked at Jennifer, who was twirling a lock of hair around one of her fingers.

"I like him, but I've only known him for a couple of weeks. He came to me after his fight and he was almost bleeding to death, so I brought him to his apartment. But that's the only time we've talked for more than a couple of minutes."

"Oh."

Ella was too surprised to offer any form of advice or otherwise comforting words.

Jennifer was the brunette Ophelia had seen in Derek's bed that night. She had called in sick the next day to be with Derek. Derek had been dying and he had gone to Jennifer for help. Then he had slept with her. She couldn't possibly tell Ophelia any of this.

"So you were visiting him tonight?" Ella asked when she found her voice again, as she was still confused about what Jennifer had been doing there.

"No. Kali, that werewolf woman, and the twins kidnapped me. They would have killed me if Derek didn't fight Kali alone. I don't know how they even knew about me."

"Your smell maybe. They might've been able to smell him on you. Or you on him." Ella suggested with a shrug as she didn't have nearly enough knowledge about werewolves to give a proper answer.

"My smell? But I shower every day."

"I don't think that means much to a werewolf. Just makes it a bit harder."

Jennifer didn't get to reply as Ella's phone interrupted them and she quickly answered, when she saw it was Stiles. She knew talking on the phone while driving was dangerous, but this was too important to miss.

" _Scott just called. Deaton's alive._ " Stiles said instead of a greeting and Ella exhaled slowly in relief; letting go of some of the nervous tension in her body.

"Thank God."

" _Dad was there too_."

"What, Dad? What was he doing there?"

" _He figured it out. Something about seeing some Celtic symbols at the clinic and remembering the logo of the bank. He saved Deaton._ "

"What about Scott?"

" _There was a ring of mountain ash around Deaton, so Scott couldn't get to him._ "

"The Darach knew Scott would come." Ella realized and felt how the horrifying notion of that overwhelmed her for a moment, making it slightly harder to breathe. Was the Darach playing with them?

" _Yeah, and we don't know what will happen with the third sacrifice now. Maybe someone else is already dead and Deaton was just a distraction._ "

"Right, okay, we'll figure that out tomorrow." Ella said with a shake of her head as she tried not to think too hard about the fact that the Darach was probably watching them. Manipulating them into looking the other way, while another sacrifice was made. Maybe they were getting too close to the truth.

"How about Derek?" Ella asked quietly with a glance at Jennifer out of the corner of her eye and she immediately felt the woman's stare.

" _I don't know, he isn't really responding._ "

"Responding?"

" _Uhm, yeah, he hasn't said anything since you left. I mean, quiet and brooding is sort of Derek's whole thing, but this is on a whole new level._ "

His voice was low and the words fell quickly out of his mouth, revealing that he was feeling more out of it than he wanted Ella to know, and she had a strong urge to turn around her car and drive back to him.

"What do we do with Boyd?" she asked after having listened to Stiles' breathing for a few long seconds, and felt her stomach churn at the thought of another funeral.

" _I'll take care of it. Somehow._ "

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Ella more or less ordered her brother, when she heard the exhaustion in his voice. "Anything."

" _I will, promise. Right now I just have to think of an explanation that isn't 'killed by werewolf', pump out all the water and, you know, make sure Cora doesn't run after the alphas to get revenge. But Lydia is here, she can help. And I'll call Scott._ "

"Okay. I'll come back as soon as I can. And Stiles?" Ella spoke as calmly as she possibly could, because Stiles sounded close to a small panic attack, and he hummed to tell her he was listening. "I love you."

She knew that maybe she was being slightly overdramatic by telling him, but after Boyd and the chaotic day they had had, she needed to. Not so much for Stiles' sake as for her own. And just knowing that he was still alive to hear it made her forget some of her own fears.

" _Love you too, Els. Talk to you later._ "

"Bye."

* * *

"Sheriff, thank you for being one hell of a detective." Deaton told breathlessly after the sheriff had explained how he had found them by recognizing the Celtic symbols at the clinic and connecting them to the closed bank.

The veterinarian was leaning against the cold steel bars, which encircled the inside of the vault, as he tried to catch his breath; his chest rising and falling quickly. He rubbed his sore wrists carefully with his hands as he waited for the sheriff to leave him alone with Scott.

"You bet. Let's get you an ambulance." the sheriff said as he clapped Deaton's knee and rose to his feet. He was barely out of the vault before Deaton grabbed Scott's arm and pulled him closer.

"Your eyes, were red. Bright red."

Deaton's words came out in short breaths as he told Scott what he had seen and a shocked expression appeared on the werewolf's face. Deaton winced in pain as just using air to speak made his lungs burn.

"How is that possible?" Scott asked disbelievingly, but the sheriff walked back into the room before he could get an answer.

"The paramedics are on their way. I'll be back in half a minute." the sheriff informed them and left again without noticing the troubled look on Scott's face.

"It's rare. Something that doesn't happen within a hundred years, but every once in a while, a beta can become an alpha, without having to steal, or take that power. They call it a true alpha. One who rises purely, on the strength of character, by virtue, by sheer force of will."

"You knew this would happen." Scott realized slowly as he stared at the closest person he had to a father and Deaton almost managed a smile as he held Scott's eyes with his.

"I believed. From the moment I knew you were bitten, I believed."

"You're not the only one." Scott spoke when a new thought hit him and he quickly made sense of every vague hint he had been given over the last few days. Deucalion knew and he wasn't after Derek. Not anymore.

"No." Deaton confirmed in a whisper and he could see the immediate panic in Scott's eyes. "Deucalion isn't after Derek. He's after you."


End file.
